Of Heroes and Huntsmen
by JustSomeWriterKid
Summary: When monsters ripped from nightmares and villains bent on destruction fill the world, a Symbol of Peace is needed. And a boy born powerless is the last person anyone thinks would step up to the plate. Follow Izuku Midoriya and his friends on their journey filled with bloodshed, secrets, and demons greater than they could've possibly imagined. Cover Image taken from MHA Chapter 159.
1. Izuku Midoriya- Origins

**Hey everyone, welcome to my first ever FanFiction, an MHA RWBY crossover. I was honestly a little surprised at how little crossover fics there were for these two series, given their popularity and just how similar they are in a lot of aspects, so I decided why not write one of my own. So enough preamble, let's get into things.**

 **I do not own RWBY nor My Hero Academia all rights belong to Monty Oum and Kohei Horikoshi and their respective publishing companies.**

 **Chapter 1: Izuku Midoriya- Origins**

 _Legends. Stories scattered through time. Mankind has grown quite fond of recounting the exploits of heroes and villains, forgetting so easily that we are remnants, byproducts, of a forgotten past, creations of forgotten gods. Man, born from dust, was strong, wise, and resourceful, but he was born into an unforgiving world. The creatures of Grimm, monsters which feed off of negative emotion, set their sites on man and all of his creations. These forces clashed, and it seemed the darkness was intent on returning man's brief existence to the void. However, even the smallest spark of hope is enough to ignite change, and in time, man's passion, resourcefulness, and ingenuity led them to the tools that would help even the odds. Aura, a defensive shield around the body powered by one's soul. Semblances, a power unique to every individual powered by aura. And "Dust", a resource which contained the various forces of nature. With the wrath of nature and soul in hand, mankind lit their way through the darkness, and in the shadow's absence came strength, civilization, and most importantly, life. But even the most brilliant lights eventually flicker and die. And when they are gone... darkness will return. So you may prepare your guardians, build your monuments to a so-called "free world" and the "peace" you so love to foster... but take heed... there will be no victory in strength._

 _But perhaps victory is in the things you've long forgotten. Things that require a smaller, more honest soul._

* * *

Aldera. All things considered, this village residing in the territory of Vale was doing pretty well off for itself. It lied in the mountains to the north of the main City of Vale and its Huntsmen Academy, Beacon. Due to its size and a higher population than most other villages in the area, it wasn't too uncommon for Huntsmen and Huntresses to stop by for a time. And it's here, on a chilly October morning, that our story begins.

 _Present Day, 8:00 A.M., Aldera High School_

Currently, the senior students of Aldera High School were starting their day off inside their homeroom, with their teacher standing at the front of the room with a pile of papers in his hands. Most were waiting idly for their teacher to begin. One boy in the middle of the room had his feet resting on top of his desk, while a student behind him had his head down, writing in one of his many notebooks.

"So, as high school seniors, you need to think seriously about your futures and your plans for the rest of your lives." Their teacher stated. He gestured to the papers in his hands. "Now, I could, of course, pass out some application forms or career aptitude tests," At this comment, the boy taking notes looked up, his emerald green eyes now focusing instead on his teacher. He had a mess of curly green hair, and freckles in a diamond pattern on each of his cheeks. "but why bother…" The teacher then proceeded to toss his papers in the air behind him.

"I know you're all looking to be Huntsmen, right?"

This caused the students in the room to erupt into a joyous cheer, with almost everyone raising their hands and showing off their semblances for all to see. "Yes, yes I know you're all excited, but you know the rules, no semblances allowed in school!"

The boy with green hair raised his hand very timidly, not wanting to attract any attention to himself. He did not show off any semblance to the class, with the only other person not to being…

"Hey Teach," said the kid with his feet up on the desk in a condescending tone, "don't lump me in with the rest of these losers and nobodies. They'll be lucky to last a whole day inside a huntsmen academy but me, I'm the real deal." the boy in question had spiky blonde hair with red eyes. His school uniform has its top button undone, and a cocky smile was present on his face.

The other students in the room did not take kindly to his insult. "WATCH IT BAKUGO, YOU THINK YOU'RE BETTER THAN US!" This and a whole slew of retorts were thrown his way.

"Be quiet, extras are supposed to act like extras!" As evidenced by his response, the boy, Katsuki Bakugo, had no fear of his fellow classmates. Their teacher took a look at one of the papers on his desk that he had chosen not to throw.

"Huh, you've got very impressive test results. Maybe you will be able to make it into Beacon, Bakugo." This comment caused the entire class to look at Katsuki in shock, whispering to one another over their teacher's words. Everyone in the class knew that Beacon was the hardest Huntsmen Academy to get into. Since the inception of the Huntsmen Academies 80 years ago, Beacon had consistently pumped out the greatest huntsmen of all four of the kingdoms. Its alumni were a veritable who's who of legends. And so, it was by far the most applied to academy in all of Remnant.

 _'Of course, Kacchan would be applying to Beacon, we've wanted to since we were kids,'_ thought the timid green haired boy. He again placed his head down by his desk, sighing as he did so, barely looking up towards the front of the room. _'I just hope he doesn't mention me.'_

"And that's why it's the only academy worthy of me," remarked Katsuki, who, intent on basking in his classmates' shock, leaped up onto his desk. "I aced all the mock tests. I'm the only person from this school who could ever make it as a Huntsman! I'll become more popular than any Huntsman in history, including All Might, and my journey to the number one spot starts with Beacon Academy!"

"Oh yeah, Midoriya, you've also applied to Beacon, haven't you?" This brought Katsuki's boasting to a sudden halt, freezing at this news. The green haired boy, Izuku Midoriya, twitched after hearing this, letting out a slight squeak of fear, knowing what would come next. The entire class, which by this point was all eyes on Izuku, burst out laughing uncontrollably.

"He's kidding, right?" "Good grades alone won't get him in!" "He should just give up, honestly!" "You can't be a Huntsman with no semblance!" The entire class let out their disbelief at Izuku's goal, finding it outright impossible.

Izuku stood up slightly from his desk. "A-Actually, t-there's not a rule stating that someone needs a s-semblance to enroll. I-It's just t-that it's never been done bef-" Izuku didn't get a chance to finish his thought, as Katsuki slammed his right hand down onto his classmate's desk, using his semblance to explode it into pieces. Izuku was thrown back onto the floor, looking up at the ashy haired grenadier.

"Listen up, _Deku_ ," Katsuki said with a twisted look on his face, the smoke from his explosion lingering in the air around him, "of all the rejects in this damn school, you're by far the worst you Severed wannabe! You really think any Huntsman Academy would accept you when they could have someone like me instead?!" Bakugo clenched his fist to emphasize his words.

"W-w-wait, I-I'm n-not trying to c-compete against you Kacchan, I swear!" Izuku looked up in total fear, backing as far away as he could until his back was up against the classroom wall. His weak frame was shaking uncontrollably, and he was furiously sweating. He looked down nervously, trying his best to avoid the deathly glare of his longtime tormentor. "I-its just, I-I've always wanted to be a huntsman since I was a little kid." He looked back up nervously, the slightest hope shining in his bright green eyes, "E-even though c-can't produce any aura, t-that doesn't mean I can't try, right?"

Katsuki responded with a full-toothed snarl at Izuku's enthusiasm. "You really think you would ever stand a chance as a Huntsman?! YOU'D GET MAULED DURING INITIATION!" Izuku looked back down, feeling completely dejected at Katsuki's cruel words, the rest of the class still laughing at their freckled peer. "Poor, useless Deku! This place is already a shitty excuse for a school! You really wanna drag its reputation even further through the mud?!"

"That's enough, Bakugo! Keep causing such negativity and you'll only be bringing more Grimm our way." Their teacher ordered, taking his time to actually interject. Katsuki turned around, making sure to give one last menacing glare towards his former childhood friend. Izuku sat there for a moment before slowly getting up, his face devoid of anything resembling happiness. He picked up his yellow backpack and moved to one of the spare seats towards the back of the room, as he no longer had a desk. For the rest of the day, he was quieter than a church mouse, reflecting on one of the saddest days of his life.

* * *

 _12 year earlier, 11:15 A.M., Aldera Healthcare Center_

 **(Cue- Anguish of the Quirkless)**

 _"Severed? What do mean Izuku is severed?"_

 _Izuku sat in the small doctor's office chair completely frozen, not even realizing he had dropped his treasured All Might Action Figure on the office floor. That day, Izuku and his mother, Inko Midoriya, had visited the local doctor's office for a routine checkup on the four-year-old child, only to have a bombshell dropped on them by their doctor._

 _"There must be some sort of mistake, are you totally sure sir?" Inko asked, her voice becoming slightly panicked. She was a slim woman with short, green hair pulled back into a small bun on the top of her head, letting her bangs and a large portion of the hair on the back of her head flow down around her neck. Her green eyes looked at the doctor with a mixture of confusion and sadness at the news bestowed upon her._

 _"Pardon my asking Ma'am, but your family has been able to produce aura for generation correct? Able to use semblances?" The doctor sat across from the two Midoriya's in a far nicer chair. He was much older than Inko, being completely bald with a white bushy mustache. He wore a white doctor's coat, a dark grey undershirt, and a black tie with black pants. His stethoscope hung around his neck._

 _"To my knowledge, yes." Inko responded "I can lift small objects to my hand," she said while using it to pick up Izuku's All Might Action Figure, "and my husband can breathe fire. Our auras aren't particularly strong, but they've managed."_

 _"Even at such a young age, your child should still be able to have his aura unlocked, but I was unable to do it. It could be possible my aura just wasn't strong enough, however..." he then grabbed an x-ray off the table and held it in front of Inko. "this x-ray confirmed that your boy's Severed." the x-ray showed Izuku's chest. Right on top of his heart was a green orb._

 _"That dot there is Izuku's soul. In a healthy person, you would see little branches spreading out to the rest of his body, kinda like veins do from the heart. However, Izuku has no such branches. His soul is effectively severed from the rest of his body, hence the name." Inko's expression only worsened the longer she looked at it. "There have been very few cases that modern science and medicine have been able to study. Nobody has a cure for it, not even Atlas could pull it off. I'm sorry, Ma'am."_

 _All the while, Izuku had hardly been listening. His gaze was still focused on where it had been when the revelation had been dropped on him. He didn't know how to process this information. Just that morning, he had watched his favorite video in the entire world ten times over. It showed his hero on his debut in the Huntsmen scene, saving hundreds of people in less than an hour. How could his day have done a 180 this fast?_

That same day, 8:00 P.M., Midoriya Household

 _Inko passed by her son's room, the news from this morning still running through her head._ 'Why did this have to happen to Izuku?' _, that thought constantly lingering in her thoughts._ 'Is it _my_ fault, somehow?'

 _*Sniff, sniff*. Inko turned into Izuku's room, completely dark except for one source of light. Izuku's scroll, placed on his desk, was projecting a video into the air, one she was very familiar with. Her son was sitting watching the video, his back to his mother._

 _ **"HA HA HA!"**_ _a deep voice boomed from the scroll. The image showed a man standing seven feet tall with muscles that were nearly too big for his bodysuit, carrying a dozen people on his back, a destroyed building and roaring flames in the background. "Who is this guy?!" a new voice asked, "I don't believe it! He must've saved at least a hundred people and it's barely been ten minutes!" the camera zoomed in on the man, showing his short blonde hair, slicked back except for two bangs sticking up in the front. "_ _ **Fear not, citizens! Hope has arrived!"**_ _The camera showed his face, covered in shadows, with a bright smile appearing on the screen._

 ** _"Because I am here!"_**

 _"See that, Mom?" Inko brought a hand up to her chest, the pain in her son's voice clearly evident, "No matter what kind of trouble he's in, he's always got a smile on his face. Even when things seem impossible, he never gives up hope." Izuku turned in his chair to face his mother, his eyes welling up with tears. He pointed a shaky finger towards the screen._

 _"Do you think… do you think that I could be a Huntsman, too?"_

 _Inko, now with tears of her own, ran up to her son, collapsing to her knees as she did so, wrapping him in the tightest possible hug she could. Both let the tears flow from their eyes, but while Inko's were shut, Izuku's remained open, the same thousand-yard stare from the doctor's office present yet again._

 _"I'm so sorry, Izuku! I wish things could be different!" Those words would linger in Izuku's mind for the rest of his life._

'Mom, those weren't the words I needed to hear.'

 **(Music End)**

* * *

 _Present Day, 2:30 P.M., Great Sanus Mountain Range, near Aldera Village_

Along the side of one of the smaller mountains in the territory of Vale, two men and one woman sat, scouting out the valley below them. The first of them looked like a walking branch. He wore a blue bodysuit, covering up his legs and torso, exposing his head and everything below his biceps. His arms looked to be made entirely out of wood, along with his face mask which exposed only his brown eyes. He also had a wooden belt, knee pads, and shoes.

The woman sitting next to him had cream-colored hair flowing down her back, with two strands curled in the front to frame her face. She was wearing a purple and cream colored bodysuit, purple gloves, and purple boots. She also had on a purple domino mask with horns coming up from the sides.

Below them, they had spotted a large horde of Grimm, consisting of at least four dozen Creeps, three dozen Beowolves, a dozen Alpha Beowolves, two dozen Ursai, and an Ursa Major leading the pack. Half a dozen Griffins circled around the pack as well.

"That's a lot more Grimm than I was expecting." said the woman, breaking the silence between the three of them.

"The pack appears to have grown since they had the bounty placed on them." responded her wooden companion. "We'll have our work cut out for us. I suggest we split them up, and lead them into an area where we can more effectively deal with them."

"Sounds good" Responded the woman. "Ya know, seems like no matter how much work we do, they just keep coming back stronger." the woman commented. At this remark, the third member of their party stood up. He wore a white t-shirt, green cargo pants, and a dark grey belt with a silver buckle. He had roaring muscles almost too large for his clothing to maintain. Had had short, slicked back blonde hair, with two bangs sticking straight up in the front. "Sometimes it seems like there's no stopping them."

 **"Yes there is,"** The third member spoke, walking up to join his companions in looking down at the Grimm. The other two looked back towards the large man, having to look up due to his large figure. **"'Why?' you ask…"**

 **"Because I am here!"**

* * *

 _Present Day, 3:30 P.M., Aldera Village_

School had been let out not too long ago, so Izuku had started his daily walk home, alone per usual. In his hand, he tightly gripped the notebook he had been writing in this morning, "Huntsmen Analysis For the Future No. 13" written on its cover. This book, along with its twelve other counterparts, contained notes on countless huntsmen and huntresses in Remnant. If the boy had ever heard their name, even once, they likely had a page somewhere in one of them. Additionally, there were also notes on the monsters which huntsmen swore to protect against, the creatures of Grimm. He had far less data on them than he did on huntsmen, mostly information gathered online, considering that getting up close and observing a Grimm was basically suicide for any non-huntsmen, especially someone who was, well…

 _'Severed…'_ Izuku thought to himslef. The title which seemed to define his entire existence. His doctor had pretty much been on the spot when describing it to his mother, the connection between a person's soul and the rest of their body just wasn't there. No major developments had occurred in better understanding the phenomena, so no one was any closer to finding a cure.

It had been a large burden on his family. In outlying villages in Northern Vale, it was common practice to unlock the aura of every citizen so that they would have better chances of surviving a Grimm attack if it were to occur. Izuku's mom had multiple times considered moving to Vale proper, where her son would be safer, but living there would just be far too expensive for the Midoriyas. This was information Izuku was fully aware of, but even so, he never let it keep him down.

 _'That day…'_ he thought to himself, _'that's when I decided that I wouldn't care what anyone else said!'_ he told himself. He clenched his fist in front of his chest in an act of determination, _'I'll Keep Moving Forward, and keep on smiling just like All Might, and I will become a Huntsman!'_ Izuku raised his fist into the air and did his best to laugh just like All Might had in his favorite video.

However, Izuku had failed to realize where exactly he had been going. His walk had lead him to a spot along the outskirts of the village, where guards and huntsmen seldom watched over. Usually, he wouldn't have to worry, as Grimm didn't often come this close to the village. However, with the negativity of Izuku's thoughts that day, and the monsters being pushed towards the village from elsewhere, he had become a prime target.

 ***Grrrrrrrrrr*** Izuku's blood went cold when he heard the deep growl coming from the forest near him. He slowly turned his head to the source of the noise, his lower body being paralyzed with fear. Through the shadows of the woods, two menacing red eyes showed through, dead set on its green haired target. With a series of thunderous steps, from the woods emerged a creature straight from humanity's nightmares.

I was a monstrously large creature, closely resembling a wolf. It stood on its hind legs, revealing the large white, bony armor covering its torso, back, arms, legs, and face. The same two blood red eyes never left Izuku as it towered over him. There was no mistaking it. It was an Alpha Beowolf.

The scrawny boy looked up in total dread, he wanted to run, run as fast as he could but _'M-My legs…'_ he thought, _'t-they w-won't move!'_ All he could do was look up at what would surely be his demise. The Alpha lurked forward, ready to maul its prey into bits. _'P-Please, someone h-help me'_ The Alpha picked up its pace slightly. _'Anyone!'_ The Alpha was now within lunging distance, about to strike when…

 **(Cue- I am here! (All Might's Theme))**

 **"Don't worry, young man, you are safe!"** Izuku and the Alpha both turned their attention back to where the Alpha emerged from, rustling coming from the brush. **"Now that I am here!"** Out from the woods appeared the same, large blonde man from the hunting party and the same man from the video Izuku had watched countless times, an unwavering smile on his face. The Alpha instantly turned to attack the man, but its effort would prove futile. The man brought his hand back, clenching it into a fist. **"MISTRAL SMASH!"** The man brought his fist forward, punching the air in front of him. Despite it never making direct contact, the Alpha was ripped apart by the wind force the punch created. Even Izuku, a good 20 yards away, was blown completely off his feet, hitting his head on the ground behind him. He was knocked unconscious by the punch, his last thoughts being _'Is that… All Might?'_

 **(End Music)**

* * *

 **"Hey...hey, you okay kid?"**. Izuku awoke to the feeling of many light slaps to his face. When he opened his eyes, he was greeted by the sight of his personal hero, the Number 1 Huntsman in all of Remnant, All Might, and his signature smile.

"Wha-?!" was the only thing resembling words which the boy was able to produce, in complete shock at the sight before him.

 **"Excellent! Thought we lost you there for a second, young man!"** All Might brought his hand up, placing it on his forehead, **"Sorry for getting you involved in my hunt. Unfortunately, I'm not too familiar with this territory, so this big guy managed to escape from me and my team. But thanks to your distraction, I managed to dispatch the beast easily!"**

Izuku has no idea what to do with himself, _'I can't believe it's really him, All Might! HE'S SO MUCH COOLER IN PERSON! I need an autograph!'_ Izuku began to look around him for his notebook. "Please, Mr. All Might, could you…" while shuffling through the pages, he stumbled up a previously blank page, however, _'HE ALREADY SIGNED IT!'_ "Thank you so much, sir! This will be treasured by my family for generations!" He said bowing with every word that left his mouth.

 **"HA HA HA! I appreciate your support! Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll be off. I need to meet back up with my team and ensure the rest of the Grimm have been dealt with!"** All Might began to turn around, preparing to launch himself into the air.

 _'He's leaving… so soon… no, he can't! I have to ask!'_

"W-wait, M-Mr. All Might, c-could I ask you a question?" Izuku asked, his voice wavering with nervousness. All Might turned around, half facing the scrawny boy in front of him.

 _ **'Damn it, I need to make sure I have enough time to finish the mission. However, I should be able to answer his question if he makes it quick.'**_ All Might somehow made his already present smile even larger. **"Alright, young man. But please make it quick, I'm on a rather tight schedule."** Izuku was shaking in his boots now, nervousness about to overcome him. But despite his trepidation, he had to ask. He thought of all the people who never believed in him; Kacchan, his neighbors, his teachers, the local huntsmen, even his mother, all of them had said no. But even so, he still hadn't given up hope. So he summoned up all his courage and got it all out in one breath.

"Do you think that I can become a Huntsman, even if I'm Severed?"

Izuku closed his eyes and tilted his head slightly down, praying to get the answer he so desperately wanted, no, the answer he needed to hear. "I-I can't produce any aura or semblance. Do you think I could ever become someone like you?"

All Might blinked at what he had just been asked, not expecting to hear those words come from the young boy in front of him. **"Severed?"** he began. **_'So that means he's'_** His thought process was cut off by a sharp pain emerging from his chest, causing him to slightly double over, steam emerging from his body. **"I should've had more time! Not now, damn it!"** he said in too hushed a tone for Izuku to hear, who continued to explain himself to his hero, still looking at the ground before him.

"All my life people have said that I wouldn't be able to become a Huntsman because I was Severed. I've even been bullied for thinking I could become one. But honestly, that just makes me want to try harder. I think saving people is the best thing someone can do. That's why I want to do it with a smile on my face, as a Huntsman, just like y-" by this point. Izuku had looked up to see a shocking sight before him. Where All Might once stood there was now a cloud of light grey smoke, dissipating to show a skeleton of a man. Though he wore the same clothes All Might had on, his blonde hair was disheveled and spiky, with two long bangs framing his angular face. He had no visible eyebrows, and his neck was extremely long. His blue eyes with black sclera were hollow and sunken as they looked at Izuku. Shocked at the sight, the boy did the first thing that came to his mind.

"Wha- AHHHHHHHHHHH?!" Izuku stumbled back a bit at the sight before him. "Y-You can't b-be All Might, you're an imposter! All Might is a giant of a man who saves people with a smile on his face! You're not him!" All Might looked on blankly, trying to figure out what to do in this situation. He decided there was no point in trying to hide it.

"I can assure you that I am All Mi-" He was cut off from his explanation as he coughed up a ridiculous amount of blood.

"AHHHHHHH!" Izuku screamed even more. All Might then realized it could prove to be a problem explaining things to the boy before him so close to the village, so he asked him to follow him a short way into the woods until they reached a small clearing. All Might then proceeded to sit down, resting his back against a tree while his long time fan stood in front of him.

"I'm trusting you to keep this all a secret, alright. Don't even tell your family." Izuku nodded at this, prompting All Might to continue, "You know how guys hold their gut in at the pool to look tougher? That's what I do." He then lifted up his shirt, showing a massive scar enveloping the left side of his body, a sight which Izuku was taken aback by. "Pretty disgusting, right? I got this in a fight five years ago. My respiratory system got blown to hell, lost my entire stomach, too. Had to go through a bunch of surgeries afterward. Based on the time, it looks like I'm limited to about three hours a day in my huntsman form because of it."

Izuku tried his best to process everything being thrown at him. "Five years ago… so you got it during your mission in Northern Anima, right? The one where you fought that massive Wyvern Grimm?"

"Huh, you know your stuff kid. But, no. That monster put up a fight but it was nothing I couldn't handle. This fight is one most of Remnant doesn't know about, and I have no intention of changing that. I'm supposed to be the Symbol of Peace, the whole world needs to believe that I can save everyone, no matter what foe stands in front of me. You mentioned that 'fearless smile'. There's plenty of fear behind that smile, but given the nature of Grimm, it's important my smile alleviate the fear of others, as well as my own."

All Might stood up slowly, leaning slightly against the tree, turning from Izuku back the village, looking slightly over his shoulder. "A Pro Huntsman has to face things that are just too strong to be faced without an Aura. So no, I don't think you can be one if you're Severed."

Izuku jumped slightly at the news, looking down at his feet, utterly broken. "O-oh…"

All Might began to walk back towards Aldera. "You could always become a guard at your village, or a police officer in one of the major cities. They get crap cause Huntsmen are usually the ones taking care of the Grimm and major criminals, but it's still a fine profession. It's great to have dreams, young man, just make sure they're attainable." All Might walked out of the clearing leaving Izuku to think to himself.

 _'Damn it, I hate to have crushed his dreams like that, but it's the sad truth. Did I do the right thing there, Nana?'_ He shook his head a bit, trying to regain his focus. He reached into his pocket, grabbing his scroll. _'Need to make contact with Kamui Woods and Mount Lady, make sure they handled the rest of the Gri-'_

 ***BOOOOOOOM*** A loud explosion cut off All Might's train of thought. He shot his head up, to see a cloud of black smoke arriving from the far side of Aldera, accompanied by several screams.

 _'Oh no…'_

* * *

A full five minutes had passed since All Might had left, yet Izuku hadn't moved an inch. After over a decade of continuing to believe in himself, the one person he needed to believe in him, even as much as he needed his mother to, had told him the exact same answer. No. Tears began to well up in his eyes.

 _'Don't cry, damn it! Deep down you always knew it was true, you just didn't want to admit it.'_ Izuku slowly dragged his feet back to Aldera, preparing to give up totally on his dream, only to look up and see smoke and fire emerging from his village. _'What? How could this have happened? The village's defenses should be able to hold back most things smaller than a Goliath!'_ He then sprinted into the village. When he arrived in the village center, he saw a horrific sight. People were in a dead sprint away from the commotion, heading towards the village safe house. Behind them were at least three dozen Grimm, an assortment of Creeps and Beowolves, with a Grifffin flying overhead.

 _'Wait,'_ Izuku thought, _'All Might said that he needed to get back with the rest of his team to finish up a mission. These are probably the same Grimm they were after. Had he gotten there in time, he probably could've stopped them. That means...'_

 _'It's MY fault!'_

Izuku saw some of the local huntsmen and guards, most of them running back with the civilians, making sure they got back safely. He recognized two of them as Huntsman from Vale, Mt. Lady and Kamui Woods. Mt. Lady looked to be unconscious, as Kamui Woods was using his semblance to hold her limp body. He also recognized Death Arms and Backdraft, two huntsmen hired to stay and protect Aldera as permanent defenders. The Huntsman appeared to be struggling to fight back against the Grimm, as there was a lot of fire in the area which impeded their efforts. _'What explosions even created those fires?'_

 ***RRROOOAAARRR*** Izuku looked deeper into the commotion to see a giant Ursa Major, a black bear with bone-like white armor on its entire body, large white spikes on its back, with bright red eyes. It was surrounded by a large radius of smoke, obscuring part of its figure. _'Oh crap, that's even bigger than the Alpha, I have to get ou-'_

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" His thoughts stopped instantly when he heard that scream, accompanied by a large explosion. _'Did he create those explosions?'_ He followed the Major's gaze, seeing it resting on a figure about 25 yards away from it. When the smoke surrounding the figure cleared, Izuku recognized the ashy blonde hair instantly. _'Kacchan?!'_

 **(Cue- You Say Run)**

Izuku broke out into a full sprint towards Katsuki, ignoring the flames nipping at his heels and the smoke filling his lungs. _'W-what am I doing? My legs… I can't stop them!'_

"The hell are you doing kid?! Get out of here!" Death Arms' command fell on deaf ears, as Izuku could focus on nothing else but helping his childhood tormentor. The Major began charging at Bakugo, who prepared to release another explosion. _'What do I do what do I do WHAT DO I DO?! Wait, page 25!'_ Izuku, remembering the page in his notebook on Kamui Woods, grabbed the yellow backpack off his shoulders, throwing it with all his might towards the Ursa Major, a book coming loose and hitting the Ursa square in the eye, staggering it slightly. It roared angrily in response, both it and Katsuki turned their attention towards the green haired boy.

"Deku?!" The Ursa took a swing at the now approaching Izuku, aiming to take his head clean off. The green haired fanboy ducked below it, running forward and grabbing Bakugo, dragging him away from the monster with a surprising amount of strength. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING DEKU?!"

"I don't know, my body just started moving on its own!" Izuku looked back at Bakugo with tears in his eyes. "I couldn't just stand there and watch you die, Kacchan!" However, the two boys lost their focus during their conversation, as the Ursa Major backhanded the boys, sending them flying towards a large fire, even further away from the safety of the Huntsman. The two looked back up at the beast in total fear as it raised its paw to deliver the killing blow.

"Get those children! They're going to die!" Yelled Backdraft who began sprinting at the two alongside Death Arms. Izuku raised his arms to cover his face and closed his eyes, trying his best to avoid the attack. One which would never land.

 **"I really am pathetic, huh?** " Izuku opened up his eyes, seeing that a large, muscular arm had completely stopped the blow from the Ursa, which gave a roar in surprise. All Might had saved him yet again. He had steam coming off from his body like before, and one of the biggest smiles he'd ever given on his face. **"I tried to give you an important lesson, but I really should start to practice what I preach! A PRO HUNTSMAN IS ALWAYS READY TO RISK HIS LIFE FOR OTHERS!"** He declared, blood erupting from his mouth, his smile remaining unphased. The Ursa brought its paw back, ready to give another go at killing its targets. However, All Might had no intent on allowing this to happen, as he brought his fist back even faster.

 **"BEACON SMAAAAAAASH!"** The punch All Might threw hit the Ursa straight in the chest, obliterating it one hit. The shock wave produced was sent in the area around him, clearing all the smoke and flames incidentally produced by Bakugo's explosions. The wind was so strong it killed most of the Creeps in the area and prompted the surviving Beowolves and Griffin to run for their lives. All Might had, like so many other times before, saved the day.

He turned his attention down to the two boys he had grabbed before throwing the punch, both totally unconscious. He set them down, knowing the other huntsmen would have to handle the situation, as he was pushing his time limit. He gave one last look to the freckled, green haired boy.

 ** _'He's the one.'_**

 **(End Music)**

* * *

When Izuku awoke, he was heavily scolded by Deatharms and Backdraft, saying that there was no need for him to throw himself into danger as he did, only serving to make him feel even worse about himself. Conversely, Bakugo was praised for his bravery in the face of an Ursa Major by some of the other local huntsmen. They said that he did have the potential to be a Pro Huntsman, but Katsuki spent most of the time staring at his former childhood friend, contemplating who knows what. The two, along with the rest of the villagers, were later informed on exactly why the village's defenses were so swiftly broken.

Apparently, the Grimm had been drawn towards Aldera incidentally, as they were running away from the pursuing Mt. Lady and Kamui Woods. They and All Might had been on their way back from Anima for differing reasons and decided to take up the mission on their way to Vale. The sudden arrival of the Grimm caught the village guards and Huntsman off guard, and their normally strong defenses were broken. Fortunately, there were zero dead by the end of the incident, and All Might's appearance would surely bring enough positive emotions to keep the Grimm away long enough for repairs to be made.

Speaking of the Number One Huntsman, he had vanished almost as soon as he'd arrived. Kamui Woods stated that All Might needed to get back to Vale on urgent business, and therefore couldn't stick around.

After he was released, Izuku began his walk home, passing by the same woods he had this morning. He'd already called his mom and told her that he was safe, so he wasn't in too much of a hurry. _'I wish I got the chance to apologize to All Might, he probably could've gotten there to help faster if I hadn't been there to get in his way.'_

"DEKU!" Izuku turned around to see the person he'd just help save, Katsuki Bakugo, behind him, panting and slightly doubled over as he'd had to run to catch up to him. "I never asked for your help back there! Like you even could if you tried! I would've been fine by myself, you got that you pathetic Severed loser! So don't go around thinking I owe you anything you damned nerd!" He then proceeded to turn around, stomping towards his house.

 _'Was that necessary?'_ Izuku thought to himself, he looked down as he turned back around, continuing on his path. _'He is right though. I didn't really do anything but get in the way. All Might had to end up saving both of us. Either way, I guess it's time I get back to giving up on my drea-'_ Izuku was caught off guard as he was grabbed and swiftly pull away from the village sidewalk and into the nearby woods yet again, finally being set down in the same clearing from earlier in the day. "Huh?"

 **"I AM HERE!"** Izuku quickly shot around to see who had grabbed him, only to find All Might, yet again in his Huntsman Form.

"Wha-. A-All Might. I-I thought you h-had to go back to Vale for important business?" he said, shocked to have seen the Number One Huntsman up close three times in the same day.

 **"HA HA HA! Don't worry, I was smart enough to ensure that wouldn't be an issue. After all, I am All Mii** iii-" The Number One Huntsman suddenly reverted back to his true form, blood spewing out of his mouth, causing Izuku to jump back or be caught in the splash zone. "Young man, I came back because I needed to talk with you about what I said earlier, and I have other things I'd like to talk with you about."

"Huh?"

"If I hadn't heard your story earlier today, I never would've had the motivation to push myself and take on those Grimm. I must thank you!"

"B-but All Might, i-its my fault from the start for getting in your way," the boy responded, looking down at the ground as he said this. "Even though I'm Severed, I dared ask you if-"

 **(Cue- You Can Become A Hero)**

"Exactly!" All Might interjected, causing Izuku to look up in surprise. " _You_ , of all the people in your village, all the guards and Huntsmen on the scene, _you_ , a timid, Severed boy, were the only one to run back and attempt to save your friend! _You_ were the one who spurred me to take action!" With every word that left All Might's mouth, Izuku's eyes glistened more and more, and his heart began to feel strained. "Most of the greatest Huntsmen in history show signs of their greatness early on in life. Their stories may vary, but there's almost always one connection, their bodies began to move on their own before they could even think." Izuku's heart began to beat more and more, he began to lean over, tears forming in his eyes. "That's what happened to you out there today, didn't it?" All Might asked, though he already knew the answer, seeing in himself what a woman had seen in him so long ago.

"Yes…" Izuku responded shakily, now on his hands and knees, gripping the forest floor beneath him, letting his tears flow freely. He was in utter shock at the words he was hearing. After over a decade of being scolded for his dreams, having to be the only person who believed in him, he had finally found someone who saw something in him. His mother's words began to re-emerge in his mind. _"I'm so sorry, Izuku! I wish things could be different!"_ Years after he had been told he was a Severed, he was about to hear the words that he so desperately needed to hear that day...

"Young man, you too can become a Huntsman."

And on that day, Izuku Midoriya's journey to become Remnant's greatest Huntsman truly began.

 **(Music End)**

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **So that's a wrap on chapter one. Hopefully you enjoyed and there weren't too many grammar mistakes.**

 **Chapter Commentary:**

 **Initially, I was going to skip a lot of the first few episodes of MHA, starting just a few weeks before All Might officially gave OFA to Deku. I knew that I wasn't exactly going to be treading new ground with this one, seeing as I didn't change all too many things (and there are already other fics with very similar beginning to this one). But seeing as the relationships between Deku, Bakugo, and All Might are arguably the most important relationships in the entirety of MHA, and they'll be important here too, I figured it would be important to establish them as early as possible, which is exactly what the first episodes of MHA did, so I figured it best that I actually sit down and write them out. I didn't want this chapter to be too drawn out, so I tried to move it along briskly, but it still ended up being longer than I expected. I skipped over the part where Bakugo tells Deku to kill himself, mainly because in a world where negative emotions can lead to your death at the hands of vicious monsters, even Bakugo would know when to temper his Deku-tormenting. Also, he wouldn't want to press his luck given that he already got a warning from his teacher and we know he cares about making sure he goes to Beacon, and I doubt Ozpin would accept someone who openly tells someone to kill themselves to their face. I also know some people might not enjoy the fact that I included Salem's opening narration from Episode 1 at the very beginning, but I figured it would be a decent way to begin and I was kind of hesitant to just start off with the classroom scene, as I wanted some way of making this feel more RWBY-like in the chapter's opening segment other than changing some of the vocabularies that the characters use. Also Mt. Lady and Kamui Woods are NOT on the same team as All Might. Kamui and Mt. Lady are partners on the same team, but they teamed up with All Might for this specific mission.**

 **Now for housekeeping business,**

 **So now to preemptively answer your questions, the first one is probably, "Who's teaming with who?". The first team of MHA characters in this universe will be Deku, Bakugo, Iida, and Todoroki (shocking and original, I know). I plan on introducing more characters in the future, however, I'm gonna do my absolute not to overbloat things. RWBY already has a ridiculously large cast as is, and adding in too many MHA characters in one go would only worsen that, especially since I'm just an amateur writer (and that's probably a compliment). I'm just as excited as you guys are to see some specific MHA characters in RWBY *cough*cough* everyone from the Overhaul Arc *cough*cough*, but we'll all just have to be patient.**

 **I have a general idea of what I want to use in terms of arcs from the two series, but not everything is set in stone. I'm also not gonna be afraid to do some changes to some of the arcs, as early RWBY did have its problems and I'd like to do my beat to improve them, and interjecting in MHA characters will also impact how the arcs play out. I'll also probably change up the structure of the Vytal Festival. Hopefully, by that point, I will actually be able to write semi-competently and won't ruin everything forever in the process.**

 **As far as character relationships go (not including shipping), I do have a lot of that planned out. It will be revealed later on, but I think you guys should find some of it pretty enjoyable. I also tried to think how our four MHA boys would actually function when fighting as a group (we get a decent look at this throughout the series, especially during the Stain Arc, Training Camp Arc, and the Bakugo Rescue Arc), so hopefully I'll be able to structure fight scenes in a way which actually makes sense, writing them out will probably be another story though.**

 **As far as shipping is concerned, I don't exactly have a lot set in stone crossover wise. I'm gonna go with Izuku x Weiss though, as I feel like the two have a lot of similarities and I'd like to see Izuku's impact on Volume 1 Weiss especially. Renora and Arkos will also happen but those are basically givens. So other than that, you guys can leave your recommendations for ships if you want.**

 **So I'll see you guys next time, whenever that may be. I have schoolwork that could end up getting in the way, but I should still be able to fit in some good writing when I can, I'll just need to get used to the flow of writing this stuff out.**


	2. Dreams of Beacon

**Welcome to Chapter Two! Hopefully you guys found the first one to be at least somewhat ok. This one should be a better mix of MHA and RWBY than the last one and will have a little bit more originality put into it.**

 **Now let's get into things**

 **Chapter 2: Dreams of Beacon**

Much like he had been twelve years ago, Izuku Midoriya had no idea how his day could've done a complete 180 so fast. Though, funnily enough, both involved a whole lot of crying, they were for completely opposite reasons. Years ago, he cried because he was told he could never become a huntsman. But now, he had been told the exact opposite by All Might, the world's greatest huntsman.

It was the greatest thing he'd ever heard. Izuku had looked up to All Might for years, and not for no good reason. Since the man had begun his career as a Pro-Huntsman, his unrivaled strength had gained him equally unrivaled popularity. For every year he had been on the scene, the Grimm attacks and crime rates throughout Remnant had both declined, his mere existence being enough to curve tragedies. He had been dubbed the "Symbol of Peace", and it was a title he'd rightfully earned. Izuku had no idea what could possibly make his day better…

"I believe that you are worth the inherit my power!"

"...huh?"

"Ha! If only you could see the look on your face!" All Might was referring to the fact that the boy before him had a look of utter confusion and disbelief on his face, not to mention that he'd be crying his eyes out not a second before. "Don't worry, I'm not gonna force anything on you. This is a proposal, a proposition. If you accept, then we can begin the real work. So come on kid, DO YOU WANT TO ACCEPT MY AWESOME POWER OR NOT!?" All Might wiped away the blood from his mouth formed from yelling out his last statement. "Allow me to explain, this concerns my Semblance."

Izuku continued to stare, trying to understand just what All Might was trying to get across from him. ' _His semblance…'_

"I'm sure you've seen the media speculate as to exactly what my semblance is. People like to guess it's some form of super strength, power booster, or even invulnerability. If they ask me in an interview I'll just joke around it and change the subject. That's because the world needs to believe their Symbol of Peace is a naturally born occurrence, by my Semblance is anything but. It was given to me. Like a torch passed down from one to another."

"It was… passed down to you?"

"Indeed. And if you say yes, I'll pass it down to you." Despite All Might's best effort at explaining his semblance and its properties, the green haired fanboy was still trying his best to wrap his head around it.

"W-wait, hold on! To be sure, your semblance is one of Remnants greatest mysteries. The debate about exactly what it is has been endless, and not a day goes by that a new theory isn't presented. But for it to be a power passed down... wellthatjustdoesn'tmakeanysensenoone'spresentedthattheoryandwhywouldtheysemblancesareboundtoaperson'saurameaningthey'reboundtoaperson'ssoulandnoone'severbeenabletofindawaytoremoveasoulbeforeofcoursethesoulisn'texactlyeasytounderstandjustbecuasewe'vebeenabletodetectandmeasureitdoesn'tmeanweunderstandeverythingaboutitbutgivingsomeoneyourownso-"

"Quiet down! You're creeping me out, kid!" All Might stopped Izuku from continuing his mumbling. "You'll just have to adjust your reality and come to terms with it later. I have the ability to transfer the power inherited be me to you. That's my semblance! It's called…

"One For All!"

"One For… All…"

"Correct. The first person cultivates the power and then passes it on. The next person refines it and passes it on again. In this way, those worthy to inherit the power have their souls linked together to save those in need. That is the reason for my strength!"

"B-but why me? W-what if I c-can't live up to it?"

"I've been on the hunt for a worthy successor for some time now. And today, seeing your action made me believe you're worthy. Though you're just a Severed fanboy, during that attack, you were more heroic than anyone else out there, self-included. While the other Huntsmen prioritized fighting off the small Grimm while running away, you were the only one to run towards someone in need while risking your own life. You were the closest person out there to being a true Hero!" At All Might's words, Izuku began to feel tears form in his eyes yet again. "Geez, young man! You're gonna have to cool it with the crying if you want my semblance."

At All Might's words, Izuku began to rise from the forest floor beneath him, rubbing the treas from his eyes. ' _He's said so much to encourage me. He even divulged the secret to his power. Is this what I've been waiting for? How could I possibly turn him down?"_ Izuku, now fully on his feet, gave his newfound mentor the most determined look he'd ever given anyone. "Yes, I accept!" All Might gave a Cheshire style grin in response.

"No reluctance. I expected nothing less of you. And now, we can truly begin your training!" Little did the newly chosen successor know the absolute hell that would be his training.

* * *

 _Two Days Later, 6:30 A.M., Dagoba Lake_

" **Ya know, I'm starting to get pretty comfortable up here on this thing!"** The number one huntsman was currently perched upon a large piece of scrap metal shaped into a box, about the size of a refrigerator. He was wearing a dark blue t-shirt with similarly colored track pants. He was looking down from his perch onto Izuku, who was currently struggling to move the scrap metal with ropes which were tied around it. He wore teal colored track pants, red shoes, and a white t-shirt with "All M" printed largely in black on the front.

Izuku, having put in all the effort he could, fell flat on his stomach, attempting to recover his breath. " **People move things this big every day, Young Midoriya. And most of them don't have any strength enhancing semblances."** Izuku crawled up to his hands and knees.

"Y-yeah but, t-there's an extra 600 pounds with you sitting on it."

" **Nah, I've lost weight. In this form, I'm down to 560."** The young successor sighed in response.

"Great, much better… also, you still haven't properly explained why you brought me all the way out here." Izuku looked around to see many other pieces of scrap metal, each of varying sizes, surrounding the entire lake.

" **Ha ha ha! Take a look at yourself, you're nowhere near ready to wield my power"** The blonde huntsman began taking pictures of Izuku on his Scroll. The scrawny, feeble boy looking behind him in horror.

"What?!" Izuku responded with a flash flood of tears, "But you said I was worthy two days ago!" All Might, still taking pictures, hopped down onto the sandy beach with his pupil.

" **I'm talking about your body."** Izuku looked up in confusion. " **One For All binds the souls of many people into the same person. The strength of all those people combines into a hurricane of force. With your unprepared boy, your limbs would pop right off!"**

"SERIOUSLY!" Izuku began shaking around, trying to calm himself down. "Ok, so this whole thing is like some super intense workout… which means you're my trainer." All Might shot his protege a thumbs up and a bright smile.

" **Exactly! But that's not all…"** He turned away from Izuku and looked out to the lake before them. The Sanus Mountain Ranges seemed to split straight down the middle, opening up to form a snake-shaped lake. The early morning sun reflected beautifully of the surface of the water, through the trash surrounding the two blocked off most of the view. " **Dagoba Lake… it used to be absolutely beautiful, a tourist spot that attracted people from all over Vale. But 85 years ago, it was the sight of a fierce battle. During the Great War, Atlas brought half of its fleet of airships through the Sanus Mountain Range on a direct path to Vale. Vale's King responded by sending an equally large force. They clashed directly over the lake, and the resulting battle left almost 150,000 dead on both sides. The destroyed ships fell into the lake and its surrounding area. After the war, anything valuable left from the battle was salvaged for later use, leaving the scraps to remain."** Izuku looked on, remembering the lessons he learned about the Great War from his history classes over the years.

"The Battle Over Dagoba… it was one of the deadliest battles of the Sanus Campaign, second only to the final Siege of Vacuo…"

" **One of the lasting scars of the Great War, and this is just one of the ones you can see…"** All Might placed his hand upon the scrap metal he once sat on, slowly crushing it. " **Back in the day, people looked up those who would clear up places like this just as much as they did to Huntsmen! Doing volunteer work is one of the greatest things a person can do!"** All Might ended his statement by compressing the scrap metal till it was flatter than a pancake, blowing away most of the trash around them as well. " **Your first step to becoming a worthy successor will be to clear up this section of the lake, both strengthening your body and doing community work in the process!"**

"My first step… is to clear up all of this! B-but there's so much! That's impossible!" Izuku, having now gotten up to his feet, looked around at all the scrap he would now have to move.

" **Young Midoriya, you want to go to Beacon, don't you?"** Izuku turned to look at his mentor.

"W-well yeah, of course. You went there, so it must be the best academy around, right? It's a long shot, but still, I'm gonna aim for the moon, Beacon Academy." He brought his hand up to his chest and clenched it.

" **I like your spirit, fanboy! But, as I mentioned earlier, it's not possible for someone who's Severed to become a Huntsman. It's sad, but it's the truth. Beacon is the hardest Huntsman course to succeed in, so we've got to get you ready fast!"**

"Right… I've got just over 10 months until Beacon's Initiation, so I've got until then to get myself ready for One For All's power."

" **That's what this is for!"** All Might pulled out a small journal from his pocket, " **This is my self-designed "Beacon Dream Plan"! It's a full training regimen designed to help mold your body into a suitable vessel."**

"I-it even has my sleep schedule planned out…" Izuku looked through the journal's many pages.

" **I won't lie, young man, this won't be easy. Do you think you're ready?"**

"Yeah" Izuku looked down at the paper with worried determination, "I know I'm starting from behind, which means I'm just gonna have to work harder than anyone else!"

" **Then what are you waiting for Young Midoriya? You've got work to do!"**

And so Izuku began his Ten Months of Hell. Throughout this time, Izuku worked himself harder than he'd ever done up until that point. Every day he hauled as much trash as he could away from Dagoba Lake, only being supervised by All Might when the Pro Huntsman could make time in his already busy schedule. He also rescheduled his sleeping habits and changed his diet. During the school days, he'd occasionally mumble to himself as he planned out his workout schedule even more, being ridiculed by his classmates when his teacher would eventually cut him off. All the while, Bakugo seemed to leave Izuku alone, though the young successor didn't have the time to figure out why. Despite the near constant pain that Izuku felt throughout his body, he continued to press on, refusing to let himself fall behind on the Beacon Dream Plan.

* * *

 _Three months before Initiation, 5:45 P.M., Dagoba Lake_

Izuku was currently trailing behind All Might, who was riding a Segway while Izuku carried a large chunk of scrap metal over his shoulder. Izuku had been breathing heavily for a while. Eventually, he collapsed onto the ground, trying his best to catch his breath. All Might, in his true form, stopped and turned around at his protege.

"Hey hey kid, look alive now! You've only got three months until initiation. What, you gonna call it quits after all this work? Start taking it easy or something?" Izuku attempted to crawl forward, but he could barely move an inch, and his breath became much shakier. All Might began to connect the dots. "You're overworked, aren't you? The Beacon Dream Plan was created specifically for your body. I fine-tuned it to ensure you'd have swift, but manageable progress. Which means… you haven't been sticking to it." Izuku began to have tears form up, though they were concealed as he was still on the ground. "You're overdoing things. That's gonna have the opposite effect of what we want!" Izuku clenched his fist.

"I have… to work harder… or I won't stand a chance at passing the initiation…" All Might widened his eyes at the boy's statement. Izuku brought himself up as best he could. "I don't just wanna make the cut, I want to excel. I want... to be like you!" Izuku brought his face up to All Might, revealing the tears in his eyes to his mentor. "I want… to be the best Huntsman in the world! So that's why… I'll keep on trying… until I've got what it takes to do that!" All Might realized exactly what his intents were.

' _I see… he's not just aiming for Beacon… he's got his sights set on the far future. Excellent."_ All Might buffed himself up into his Huntsman Form. " **You've got a fighting spirit, fanboy! And that will serve you well! I understand your concerns, but progress cannot but rushed. But fear not, this old man will adjust your plan to ensure you're ready!"**

"You're not that old…All Might…"

" **HA HA HA HA HA!"**

* * *

 _One and a half months before Initiation, 7:00 P.M., Midoriya Household_

Izuku sat in his room at his desk, having just finished dinner with his mother. He looked down at his Beacon Dream Plan, a contemplative look on his face. ' _There's not much time left until initiation. I don't know if I'll be ready by then. I know All Might said to not overdo it, but I can't help but feel like there's more work I need to put in. But how...'_

*Ring**Ring*. Izuku pulled his Scroll out of his pocket seeing that All Might was calling him. He was of course label Toshinori Yagi in his contacts, as people would ask questions of him if they found out he had All Might's personal phone number. Izuku smiled at the surprise and pressed "receive" on his Scroll and brought it up to his ear. "Hello?"

"Young Midoriya, how's it going?"

"Things are going well. Since school's over with, I've been able to put more time on my training. Don't worry, I'm making sure not to overdo it again."

"That's good, cause I'm afraid I won't be able to make it up to oversee your training this week." Izuku's smile faded at the news, "I've got important business I need to deal with in Atlas, so you'll just have to do it without me. I'm sorry"

"N-no I understand. You are still a Huntsman after all."

"I appreciate your consideration. There's also another thing I'd like to talk to you about…"

"Oh sure, what's up?"

"You need a weapon." Izuku's eyes widened, mentally slapping himself in the face for forgetting such an important detail. Weapons played a key part in the arsenal of a Huntsman. Relying on semblance alone was something not many could do, save for those like All Might who had semblances which more than made up for it. People would often spend months designing and making their weapons, seeing it as an extension of themselves that they carried into combat. "Now I know we don't have much time but don't think you need to rush to a quick deci-"

"Oh, I've got it!" Izuku scrambled through one of the drawers in his desk, finding a notebook he had filled with costume designs and weapon ideas, his smile now returning even stronger. "I've been thinking about this since I was a little kid. I've got a lot of designs in my notebook but there's one I've always been partial to it'snotsuperflashylikesomequadruplegunmeleecombobutIthinkitshouldworkoutI'llneedalotofDustinordertomakeitworkthoughsothatcouldbeaproblemcostwiseactuallyIbasedthemoffofseeinghowyoufightsoyoucouldprobablyhelptrainmetousethemIcallthemthe"

"Midoriya!" Izuku covered his mouth, blushing after realizing he'd gone full fanboy while on the phone with his mentor. "If you've got a design that you like that's great, especially if it's one I can help you train to use. I'll give you some Lien so that you can pay a shop in Vale to make them for you, we won't have time for you to build them yourself. If you order them tonight, they should be ready to go within two weeks."

"O-ok, sounds good." Izuku responded, having slightly regained his composure.

"I'll send you the number for an old friend who can make them for you."

"Alright, thank you so much."

"No problem, I should be able to make it up to Aldera two weeks before initiation. I look forward to seeing your progress."

"Alright, bye Toshinori."

"Take care, Young Midoriya." Izuku put his Scroll down and looked closely at the design for his weapon. He began to have tears build up in his eyes at the revelation of what exactly he was going to be doing in a few weeks time. ' _It's actually gonna happen, huh?'_. Izuku wiped the tears from his eyes, trying his best to follow Toshinori's words, but he still had a giant grin on his face.

* * *

 _One month before Initiation, 8:30 P.M., Vale's Commercial District_

So far, Izuku's night out in the City of Vale had been uneventful. Not that this bothered the young successor, as he was perfectly content with silently taking in the city lights. This wasn't the first time Izuku had visited the kingdom's namesake city, he remembered doing it semi-often with Bakugo when they were kids, going out to the movies with both of their mothers watching over them. He was also happy as he had just gotten the chance to pick up his weapons.

' _All Might really did know who to go to when it came to weapon building, these things look even cooler than I could've ever imagined.'_ Izuku carried his weapons in a green briefcase, which was surprisingly light considering the fact that they carried a powerful set of weapons inside of them.

*Ring**Ring*. Izuku reached into his pocket and grabbed his Scroll. "Hello?"

" _Hi honey, is everything going alright in Vale?"_

"Yeah, it's going great mom. I just picked up what I needed from the weapon's shop. Now I'm just going to the Dust store and then I'll be back on the train home." Inko Midoriya had become more and more wary of her son's safety, considering that he was spending more and more time away from home training. Though Izuku wished she'd ask about it less often so he wouldn't have to lie to her as much, he appreciated the care that she gave him. He'd had to tell her that the weapon's store had been offering a major discount on old designs which they needed to get rid of so that she wouldn't be concerned over where the money for his weapons came from, saying it was just money he'd been saving up. She did end up giving him enough money to buy some Dust though.

" _Ok, just let me know when you're safely on the train ok."_

"Will do, Mom. Love you."

" _Love you too, Izuku."_ Izuku put his Scroll away, finally in sight of the Dust shop entitled "From Dust Till Dawn". Looking through the windows, he saw what appeared to be a large gathering of people at the front of the desk.

 **(Cue- This Will Be The Day)**

' _That's weird. I didn't anticipate there being so many people buying Dust this late into the night. I would've come sooner if it weren't for my training.'_ As he approached the store, he began to hear a commotion coming from inside. ' _Hold on… what's going on in th-'_

Through the window to the right of the entrance, a red blur and a man in an all-black suit suddenly shot out, breaking the glass as they did so. Several other men in the same all-black suits, with one in a differing attire, looked through the broken window at where the red blur had ended up, luckily ignoring Izuku, who stood a good twenty yards away.

From where the red blur stopped stood a girl who looked to be a couple years younger than Izuku. She was fair skinned with black hair which stopped at her neck that was dyed red at the tips. Her attire consisted of a red cloak, a black long-sleeved dress with a high collar and red trim on the sleeves, a black waist cincher with red lacing up the front, with a red trim around her skirt. She also wore a pair of thick black stockings and black combat boots with red laces and a red trim around the top. Her attire was finished off with a black belt slung around her hips which carried bullets and a pouch and had an emblem in the shape of a rose on it. However, the most striking thing about the girl was…

' _Holy crap that scythe is like twice her size!'_ The girl swung her red scythe in her left hand until it was sunk into the ground, pointed at the door of the Dust shop. She clicked off a pair of headphones she held in her right hand.

 **(End Music)**

Her eyes locked onto the presumed leader of the group, that being the only one who's attire didn't match anyone else present. The man had dark green eyes with bright orange hair which covered his right eye, while his left eye had traces of eyeliner. He wore a red-lined white suit with long black pants and black shoes, a small gray scarf, black gloves with buckled sleeves, and a black bowler hat with a small feather tucked into its red band. In his right hand he carried a cane and a cigar was in his mouth. Said man also had his eyes locked onto the girl before him. "Okayyy… get her!"

On cue, the four black-suited goons ran out the shop's door, three having drawn a single-edged red blade while one carried an SMG, and began to charge at the red-head before them. Just as the first goon approached fighting distance, the girl jumped up and spun around on the handle of her scythe, kicking the first goon in the face with both her feet. She carried her momentum with her and used it leap further into the air with her scythe in hand, landing with her back facing the goons.

' _That's some amazing skill! Even though that scythe is massive, she's able to wield it perfectly like it's nothing. I wonder how she learned to be that good with it…'_ Before the sworded goons could reacher her, the girl pulled a trigger on her scythe which caused a bullet to fire from the top end of the handle, using the kick from the shot to swing her scythe with extra impact into the closest goon, doing the same thing to other goon with a sword. ' _IT'S ALSO A GUN?! THAT'S SO COOL!'_

As the final goon began to fire off a volley of shots her way with his SMG, the girl turned into a burst of rose petals, dodging his bullets to the side all while firing her scythe to give extra momentum. She then launched herself at her opponent, knocking him into the air. She planted the blade of her scythe into the ground, swinging on it until she jumped into the air and hit the goon with her scythe yet again, knocking him out cold. She returned to the ground, again looking at the leader of the group.

' _She's got the timing of her semblance down well too. I wish I had my notebo-'_ Izuku's train of thought stopped when he saw one of the other goons had returned to his feet and was looking to go for another strike at the rosy girl who now had her back to him. ' _Oh crap!'_ As he was getting to his feet and was about to strike the girl, Izuku closed the distance and delivered a chop right to the back of his head, knocking him down yet again.

The girl turned around to see the boy who'd saved her from the goons. She scanned him up and down quickly. Izuku felt slightly embarrassed, as his long black pants and white hoodie with words "hoodie" on the front felt a lot less cool than what she was wearing. Still, she looked up at him with her silver eyes and smiled, "Thanks!", before turning to look at the boss of the group. The man with the can looked down at one of the goons who had been kicked to his feet.

"You were worth every cent, truly you were." he then turned his attention to the two teens in front of him, pulling the cigar out from his mouth. "Well now, Red, Greenie, I think we can all say it's been an eventful evening," The man dropped his cigar and crushed it with his cane, "and as much as I'd love to stick around, I'm afraid this" the man brought his cane up and pointed it at the Christmas themed pair, the butt end of it popping off to reveal a sight "is where we part ways." The man fired off an incendiary Dust round from the end of his cane. The rosy girl used her scythe's gun to launch herself into the air, while Izuku jumped out of the explosion's blast radius. Izuku got to his feet while the girl returned from the air, both beginning to look for where the criminal had gone off to.

"Over there!" The girl pointed up to the side of a nearby building where the man in the white coat was climbing up its side with a ladder. "You okay if we go after him?" the girl asked to the shopkeep, who by this point had made his way out the door.

"A-and also if we do could you watch my stuff?" Izuku asked as he pointed to the briefcase he'd been holding through this whole ordeal. The shopkeep nodded to the two of them. "Awesome, thanks!" Izuku set his briefcase down before grabbing the SMG that one of the goons had used, the two then running off after the crook. The young successor was about to scale the ladder when the girl grabbed onto him with one hand, then pulling the trigger on her scythe to launch the two up in an impromptu flight. The teens landed, albeit with varying degrees of grace, on the top of the building, the crook already being on the other side of the rooftop.

"Hey!" The rosy girl yelled while Izuku stumbled to his feet, SMG somehow still in hand.

"Persistent…" said the cane-wielding criminal to himself. The two then began to hear the roar of engines as a Bullhead, a small airship used for commercial and private business, ascended up from the streets, stopping just above the rooftops. It shined a light right into their faces, temporarily blinding them. The criminal climbed into the open side door of the ship before turning around, now holding a sizable red Dust Crystal in his hand. "End of the line, you two!" The man then tossed to the crystal so it landed right at the feet of the scythe wielder. Izuku saw the man point his cane at the Dust Crystal, now realizing exactly what was about to happen.

"Look out!" Izuku jumped at his companion and tackled her to the ground, preparing to shield her as best he could from the explosion. The round went off, and the sound of the explosions deafened everything around to two of them. As they slowly regained their senses, they heard the cheering of the man they were chasing, only for it to stop at the realization that his chasers weren't dead. The two looked up to see a woman who had cast some sort of pink shield which stopped the explosion from reaching them.

The person who'd saved them was a middle-aged woman with very light-blonde hair tied back in a bun with a curl hanging down the right side of her face. She had bright green eyes and thin ovular glasses. She had dangling teal earrings with a hanging pendant on her collar of a matching color. She wore a white long-sleeved, pleated top that had a wide keyhole neckline and gauntlet cuffs that flared in pleats at the wrist. Her lower body was covered by a black high-waisted pencil skirt with bronze buttons and black-brown stockings. She also wore black boots with bronze heels, and a cape that was purple inside and black on the outside, cut into the shapes of flames and arrows on the end, with the symbol of a tiara colored gold on it. In her right hand, she held a riding crop which seemed to serve as her weapon.

The new woman brought her riding crop back before whipping it forward in an arch, sending a volley of bright purple projectiles at the Bullhead, knocking it around a sizable amount. The criminal ran into the cockpit of the ship, attempting to get away. The Huntress before the two teens then cast another "spell", which generated a storm above the Bullhead, bring down a torrent of ice shards on the ship. A new figure emerged from where the criminal had run off to. It was hard to tell anything about her, but she wore a short red dress, glass high heels, and had glowing orange eyes.

The new combatant ran her left hand along her right arm, causing part of her dress to grow a molten orange. She then flicked her left arm at the Huntress, causing a spray of fire to be sent out, only for it to be blocked by another shield "spell", leaving small remains of the fire on the ground. From the small remains, however, the fiery combatant brought up an explosion of fire, which the Huntress barely managed to flip out of. The Huntress quickly regained her composure, using the debris created by the explosion to telekinetically form a spear which she launched at the bullhead. Her opponent sent for a barrage of fireballs to stop the spear, however, the Huntress simply reassembled anything the attacker broke away, causing the spear to eventually make contact with the bullhead. She then took the spear and split it into three separate ones, only for them to be destroyed by a large shockwave the fire-wielder produced. The rosy girl took this time to switch her weapon into a compact rifle form, firing blasts at the woman in the Bullhead which we simply deflected by her hand. Izuku saw the look on the Huntress' face and realized they would only get in the way.

"H-hey! Let's get out of here before-" Izuku's realization came too late and the fire wielder created even more explosion from the ground beneath them, forcing the Huntress to telekinetically move the teens out of the way before barely dodging the attack herself. The Bullhead used this time to pull away, the three getting one last look at the woman with glowing eyes before the hull doors closed. Izuku and the rosy girl turned their attention to the woman who'd just saved them, Izuku finally realizing exactly who this woman was.

"Are you a Huntress?" The girl asked with a wide-eyed smile.

"She's not just any Huntress," the girl turned to Izuku who had a similar look on his face, "she's Glynda Goodwitch! She's a professor at Beacon Academy who teaches sparring classes! Her telekinetic powers have made her one of Vale's most accomplished Huntresses in the past twenty years!"

"Oh my gods that's so awesome!" Glynda looked at the pair in front of her with a mix of anger and confusion on her face.

"CAN WE HAVE YOUR AUTOGRAPH!" the two shouted in unison, looks of pure glee on their faces.

Sadly, no autographs were received on that night.

* * *

 _Same Day, 9:45 P.M., Vale Police Department_

Glynda Goodwitch had hastily brought the red and green pair down to the Vale Police Department, also making sure that police arrived at the Dust shop which was robbed. The two were then split up and brought into separate rooms where they were each questioned by several police officers. Izuku had been allowed to call his mom thankfully, who sounded like she was about to have a heart attack after hearing the news. Now, the young man sat quietly in the interrogation room, waiting for almost 30 minutes now after being told another person wished to see him. The young successor was half asleep by this point, only to shoot his head up when the door in front of him opened.

Before Izuku stood a middle-aged man with silver hair, brown eyes, and a light complexion.  
He had shaded glass spectacles and a cross-shaped pin on the cowl around his neck. He wore an unzipped black suit over a dark green, buttoned vest and green shirt, black dress shoes, and long, dark-green pants. In his right hand was an ornate black cane with a silver handle and in the right was a mug of coffee.

The man smiled down at Izuku before sitting down in the chair across the table from him. "Well, you've certainly had an eventful evening, haven't you."

"I-I guess you could say that yeah, though that is kind of understating it…" Izuku had a confused look on his face, trying to figure out exactly who the person in front of him was. "O-oh, you're Professor Ozpin, Headmaster of Beacon aren't you?" Ozpin blinked slightly at how straightforward the boy was, only for Izuku to blush at realizing how awkward he was starting off his first chat with his possible future teacher.

Oz continued to smile though. "That I am. I'll try not to keep you for too long, I'm aware your mother was worried about you when you called her." Izuku nodded at his statement. "I'm curious, have you had any formal training in one of the private junior academies, Signal maybe?"

"N-no s-sir, I haven't attended any of the private academies." Ozpin narrowed his gaze, thinking on the boy's response. Eventually, he nodded.

"I see, so you have no formal combat training then."

"W-well, t-that's not 100% accurate…" Oz raised a brow at this and Izuku began to get more nervous. "Y-you see, I've actually been doing some training to become a Huntsman, just not any formal training. I-it's mainly been workout stuff but I-I've also learned a little bit of hand to hand stuff. They also like to make sure everyone in my village has a general idea of how to protect themselves, so our school did have some training, and that got kicked into overdrive after a recent Grimm attack."

"I see. I suspected you hadn't had any formal training. Which is why I was surprised by your actions tonight."

"Huh?"

"It's just not many people are willing to throw themselves into danger they weren't involved in, which is exactly what you did tonight. Even though you didn't do much, you likely saved Miss Rose's life tonight, and were prepared to do it a second time."

' _Rose… so that must be her name…'_ "T-thank you very much, sir! That means a lot coming from you." Izuku began to feel more comfortable now, a slight smile forming on his face.

"You said you're looking at becoming a Huntsman. Where do you plan on applying, exactly?" Ozpin took a sip from his mug as he asked his question, though he already had a hunch on what the boy's answer will be.

"Well, I'll be going for your school, sir. It's where so many other great Huntsmen have gone, so it must be good. There's All Might, Endeavor, Goodwitch, Best Jeanist, everyone on Team STRQ, and then there's-" Izuku shot his hands up to his mouth, realizing his fanboyish tendencies had struck yet again. Ozpin chuckled to himself at the boy's nervousness. ' _Note to self: Do not get calm in important situations, leads to embarrassment.'_

"Well then, a person with your heroic mindset is always welcome. I do hope you'll be ready for the Initiation exam though, it's difficulty is stressed for a reason." Izuku looked down and thought to himself before giving a determined smile to the professor before him.

"Don't worry sir, I'll be ready!" Ozpin chuckled yet again, smiling at the boy one last time.

"I'm glad to hear that. You're free to go, Izuku Midoriya. Your briefcase is with one of the officers outside, and its contents are undamaged."

"Thank you, sir." The two of them walked out of the interrogation room, Ozpin stepping off to the side while Izuku walked to get his stuff from one of the cops.

' _So he's the one you've chosen, huh Toshinori.'_ Ozpin thought to himself. ' _He certainly has the mindset for the job… let's just hope his body is equally as ready when the time comes.'_ Ozpin watched Izuku leave the room, then turned to his right at the sound of heels walking along the floor.

"Miss Rose has been sent home, along with her ridiculous weapon. I'm going to have to smack Qrow when he gets back for teaching his niece to use something so dangerous. Not that it's the stupidest thing he's ever done… how did everything with that Midoriya kid go?" Glynda asked, now standing beside her fellow Huntsman.

"Well… the conversation went alright. However…" Glynda raised a brow as Ozpin look at the reflection in his coffee "we'll just have to wait and see how events unfold…"

* * *

Izuku walked out of the police station, having just gotten off the phone with his mom to tell her he was heading towards the train station. ' _Well that talk went well… I think… he did see me start to go off into tangent partway through…'_

"Hey!" Izuku turned back towards the station entrance only for a red blur to bolt its way right in front of him.

"Ah!" Izuku almost fell backward at the surprise of the Rose girl before him.

"Oops, heh, sorry about that. Guess most people I talk to are used to my Semblance already… I just wanted to thank you for helping me out back there. That guy's henchman would've totally got me if it wasn't for you."

"D-don't mention it, it was just the right thing to do, ya know." Izuku scratched the back of his head nervously, the slow realization that this girl might be as socially awkward as he was dawning on him. ' _I am this bad around people? No, I'm WAY worse.'_ "I'm Izuku Midoriya, by the way." Izuku offered out a hand, to which the rosy girl responded with the same.

"Ruby Rose. So what did those guys ask you? Did Ozpin and Goodwitch talk to you too?"

"J-just Ozpin, actually. The cops just asked basic questions, and the Professor asked if I was looking into becoming a Huntsman."

"Are you?" Ruby was now on her tiptoes so that she could get closer to Izuku's face, to which the young successor blushed at. "Cause that would be really awesome! Ozpin told me that he'd let me take the Initiation test too, which would mean that the only other person that I'd know going there is my sister, and I'd like to have at least one other friend going there, speaking of which are we friends?"

' _On second thought, the gap may not be as far as I thought…'_ "Uhhhhh, suuure…" Ruby tilted her head slightly and blinked in response.

"Oh sorry! I guess I was a little close there… a-a-and I was kinda talking fast…" Ruby began to scratch the back of her head as well, causing Izuku to sympathize with the fellow fast talking introvert.

"W-wait, how old are you exactly, Ruby?"

"Fifteen, why?"

"Woah, so Ozpin must've really wanted you to come if he let you in two years early. That does make sense, though. You were pretty impressive with you scythe back there."

"Thanks! Crescent Rose and I have put a lot of work into making sure we're the perfect fighting team!" Ruby crossed her arms and closed her eyes, beginning to feel a sense of pride in herself.

"Crescent Rose… it's a scythe-sniper combo, right? That's a really difficult combination to work with, but it does offer you a lot of different options in combat."

"Exactly! Everyone said that it a ridiculous combo choice, but my sweetheart and I have more than proved them wrong. Oh, do you have any weapons?" Ruby now looked at Izuku with curiosity.

"They're in here actually!" Izuku motioned to the briefcase in his left hand. "I had them custom made and went to pick them up today. I was gonna get some Dust to use with them but then, well, ya know…" *Buzz**Buzz*. Ruby reached into a pouch on her belt and pulled out her Scroll, looking at the text she'd just received.

"Oh no! Yang's waiting for me at the docks! She's gonna kill me if I don't make it there soon!"

"Who's Yang?"

"You'll have to show me them later. Here, let me see your Scroll." Izuku, half forgetting the question he'd just asked pulled out his Scroll which Ruby quickly snatched away. She placed the two side by side and pressed a button on the bottom of each one, a *Ping* noise eventually sounding off from them both. "There, now we have each other in our contacts, I'll call you sometime so you can show me them. Bye!" Ruby finished her sentence by bolting off in the opposite direction with the assistance of her semblance.

' _Well, she seems pretty nice. I guess I'll know someone other than Kacchan applying to Beacon now.'_ Izuku turned and began his walk to the train station. ' _But if that's the skill level she's at even though she's two years younger than I am, I'm gonna need to kick the training with my new weapons into overdrive tomorrow. If I don't I'll be too far behind everyone else to compete. Our weapons aren't too similar, but maybe there are still some pointers she could give me. I'll have to ask her whenever she calls me. Also, her name sounded really familiar... Rose, Rose, Rose… oh, she might be related to Silver Angel from Team STRQ! She does kinda look a lot like her. Wait… SHE?'_ Izuku stopped dead in his tracks, wide-eyed upon realizing what had just transpired.

' _I JUST TALKED TO A GIRL! AND NOW I HAVE HER IN MY CONTACTS!"_

* * *

 _Two Weeks Before Initiation, 6:00 A.M., Dagoba Lake_

All Might, in his true form, slowly walked on the path towards the southern edge of Dagoba Lake. He wore a large dark blue trench coat, a white scarf, green pants, and brown shoes. ' _Not much time left until Initiation,'_ The blonde huntsman thought to himself, ' _and we've still got to make sure he knows how to fight as well. Hopefully he's made some significant progress in the last mo-'_

"HHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" All Might shot his gaze further up along the path. On top of a large mountain of scrap and garbage, Izuku Midoriya stood, screaming as loud as he could up into the air, echoing off the mountains surrounding him. He was shirtless, sweaty, and tired, but he'd done what he set out to do. "HHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

"Hey, hey, holy crap, kid…" All Might looked away from his protege to the beachfront to see that a large section of it had been cleaned up, showing the sand that had been buried for many decades. "You even cleaned up outside the area I told you to. Seriously! There's not one speck of trash left on this beach! Only a week left to go, and yet you exceeded my expectations! Oh my, oh my, **Goodness!"** As Izuku began to stumble and fall from the trash, All Might buffed himself up and launched himself at full speeds to catch him. " **Excellent work, Young Midoriya!"** Izuku looked up at All Might and smiled weakly.

"I finished everything… All Might... I really did it. Do you… do you think I'm ready now?"

" **Yeah, you did tremendously. I gotta say I'm impressed."** All Might slowly set Izuku down onto his own two feet. " **I knew you had it in you but this is beyond what I expected!"** All Might pulled out his Scroll and held it in front of Izuku. " **Look at this…"** The Scroll was opened to a picture of Izuku from his first day of training at the beach. " **It's you, crying, ten months ago. Look how far you've come, such improvement."** All Might looked at Izuku's body. What had once resembled a pencil was now chiseled and muscular, something most boys his age could only dream of having. " **There's still a long road ahead of you before my full power set will be at your disposal, but it's starting to look like you can do it, kid!"** Izuku weakly held up his hand and looked at it.

"All Might… do I deserve this, are you sure?" This question caught the Number One Huntsman off guard. "You put so much time, effort, and money into helping me," Izuku once again had tears fall down his face. "I feel like I've cheated somehow, I feel so blessed."

" **Ha ha ha!"** All Might simply laughed at the young boy's statement. ' _ **He's still worried about that after all these months of work?'**_ All Might place his hand on the back of Izuku's shoulder. " **It was your hard work that got you this far, not mine."** Izuku began to smile at his mentor's words. " **But we're not done yet! We've still got one week until Initiation, and I see no point in taking it easy until then. So, are you ready to accept your reward?"**

"Yes sir!"

" **An old friend once told me that there's a difference between being lucky and being deserving. One is an accident, and the other is a reward! Never get the two confused!"** Izuku looked up at his mentor with wide eyes. " **Take that to heart, Izuku Midoriya. This gift was earned by your valiant efforts!"** The young successor looked up at him with determination. " **Now then…"** All Might held out a strand of blonde hair taken from one of his bangs.

" **EAT THIS!"**

"...huh?"

" **You need to swallow part of my DNA! That's the only way for me to transfer One For All to you!"**

"I-I-I thought you could just use your Aura and pass it down to me! This wasn't at all what I imagined!"

" **Come on, we've still got so much training left to do!"**

" **Eat!"** "Ah!" " **EAT!"** "AH!" " **EAAAAAAAT!"** "AHHHHHHHHHHH!"

* * *

 **A/N**

 **And there's Chapter Two, done and over with. We got to see Ruby, Oz, Glynda, Roman, and Cinder so hopefully this felt a lot more like a crossover than the last one!**

 **Chapter Commentary:**

 **-I enjoyed coming up with the whole backstory behind Dagoba Lake. I really liked the idea of showing off exactly how bad the Great War really was early on, and I enjoy the symbolic idea of the Future Symbol of Peace cleaning up the scars left behind from past conflicts. Hope you enjoyed it too.**

 **-As I hinted at in the last commentary, the scene of Izuku going to the Dust shop and getting involved in the Episode One fight was initially where I was gonna start off the first chapter. I am glad I changed that though, as now things feel a lot more organic than it likely would've felt otherwise.**

 **-In the part where Ozpin and Glynda talk right after the conversation with Deku, I was gonna have Aizawa show up and say a line or two, something along the lines of "Sorry I wasn't there to help out, Glynda." I ultimately left this out as it would've been a pretty lackluster introduction to one of MHA's coolest characters to have him needlessly tacked on to the end of a scene with no real purpose, and it wouldn't have been nearly as enjoyable as his intro in the actual show. Either way, it doesn't really impact the chapter much.**

 **-This was also the first time I got to write out a longer fight scene, as last chapter's fights both got ended in one punch courtesy All Might. I thought I did ok for my first try, but let me know if there's anything you guys think I should improve on. Also, Izuku never used the weapons he had in his briefcase because they rely heavily on Dust, and he never got the chance to get Dust from the shop before the fight.**

 **-I also hope Ruby didn't feel too out of character in her conversation with Deku. She's pretty socially awkward at the beginning of Volume One (Her first conversation with Jaune starts with her accidentally insulting him and making things awkward, only to then change the subject into weapons, her one comfort zone. She also fails to understand sarcasm with Weiss), I just hope I didn't overplay that trait too much. We also got to see Summer Rose's Huntsman Name: "Silver Angel". Nothing really too crazy about, but I figured that having silver in the name made sense with her being a Silver-Eyed Warrior and all.**

 **Now for housekeeping**

 **Don't have too much to add here. You can still send in shipping recommendations if you want. So far I've seen Bakugo x Yang and Bakugo x Ruby, which both sound like they would be a lot of fun to write, the latter especially.**

 **Next chapter we'll be meeting a lot more of our principal cast, so hopefully that gets you guys excited.**

 **So see ya next time, which will probably be a longer wait, I'll try my best to get it out soon though.**


	3. The Shining Beacon

**Happy New Year Everyone. The wait this time was much longer than I had wanted it to be, so sorry about that.**

 **Now for Chapter 3. I'm excited to put this one out, especially since I'll have a lot more characters to write (which will probably end up being more of a burden in the long run but who cares). So let's not delay any longer!**

 **I do not own RWBY nor My Hero Academia all rights belong to Monty Oum and Kohei Horikoshi and their respective publishing companies.**

 **I do not own the cover image.**

 **Chapter 3: The Shining Beacon**

* * *

 _One Day Before Initiation, 6:00 P.M., Beacon Academy_

Beacon Academy. The premier school for Huntsmen and Huntresses in training. It's most prominent physical feature was the large clocktower which overviewed the entire campus. It had the basic amenities which one would expect: a cafeteria, library, lecture halls, and dorm rooms. It had various spaces for sparring between students, all under teacher supervision of course. It also had several offsite facilities which could be used for a variety of differing reasons. It also had a gorgeous view, as the academy was built along the edge of a cliff which dropped down into Sodai Lake, a vast body of water which separated Beacon from Vale proper.

And currently, at the top of Beacon Tower, a skinny blonde man in a yellow suit and blue tie stood gazing out the window. "Enjoying the view?" All Might turned his head back to see Professor Ozpin, sitting in his chair, turned away from the clock themed desk to look at the Number One Huntsman.

"It is quite beautiful. But no, I'm not." Ozpin sat up from his chair and walked up to the yellow suited huntsman with two coffee mugs.

"It's been quite a while since I've seen you this nervous. Years, in fact." Ozpin extended the mug in his left arm to All Might, who graciously accepted. Ozpin looked out the window, slowly drinking from his mug.

"Well, Initiation has always been a big day. And considering the pool of potential students this year, I'd say this could be a lot bigger than usual."

"True. Speaking of the current pool, how is your successor doing?" All Might looked down at his mug and sighed.

"His training has been rushed. He's only had his Aura unlocked for two weeks, and his combat skills will put him a sizable amount behind most of the other candidates. But, I think he's got what it takes to pass."

"Are you sure you want him to participate. I could have him transfer in later in the year when he's more prepared. It certainly wouldn't be the first time."

"No," All Might responded with no hesitation. "He'd never accept taking the easy way out. He's worked hard for almost a year now so he can compete with the rest of the students at Beacon. He needs to know all that work has been worth it." Ozpin smiled at All Might's words.

"Well if that's true then I have no doubt you've chosen the right person for the job. Now, if you'll excuse me, I believe I have a speech to prepare for." Ozpin turned away and walked towards the elevator at the far side of the room. All Might looked out the window, seeing several massive airships, large enough to carry hundreds of people at a time, bringing in the students for tomorrow's Initiation. The skeletal Huntsman smiled, anticipating what tomorrow would bring.

 _'You're gonna do great, Young Midoriya…'_

* * *

 _Same Day, Same Time, Beacon Airship 002_

 _'I don't stand a chance!'_

The young successor was currently sitting on a bench inside one of the airships flying to Beacon, sweating profusely. He'd started out the day waking up early in the morning, wishing his mom goodbye, and hopping on the train from Aldera to Vale. From there he traveled across the city to reach the docks and went on to his designated airship.

Izuku looked down at himself, seeing the new outfit he prepared to use during Initiation. He had a dark green unzipped jacket with pockets on the front and on his arms, with the sleeves cut short so they barely reached his elbow, and a white undershirt. He also had black cargo pants and a dark green utility belt. Around his neck was a metal, diamond-shaped respirator with two holes on the top and bottom. Lastly, he wore white gloves that ended right around his elbows. On the outside of the gloves was a dark green honeycomb pattern, and on the inside of the glove were metal attachments below the wrists with small slit-like openings at the bottom.

Finally, on the back of his jacket was a black symbol he'd had custom printed onto it. It was a black torch with a circle around it. Overtop of the circle were nine rings evenly spaced around it.

Done giving himself one last look over, he turned his attention to the various people around them, some talking to each other in small groups while others sat by themselves.

 _'Everyone else here looks really strong… and the weapons I can see look like they've undergone a lot of use…'_ Izuku looked down at his hands. _'I've only had my aura unlocked for two weeks, and only a month of use with my weapons. Not to mention that I haven't gotten the chance to try out One For All properly yet…'_ Unfortunately for Izuku, All Might had told him not to try using his newfound semblance just yet. Though his body was in a state in which it could hold One For All, there would still be some "kickback" which made it too dangerous to test out at Dagoba Lake, as they didn't have the proper equipment to deal with it. Instead, the two focused on training Izuku with his weapons and getting him accustomed to his newfound aura. Izuku brought his left hand up to his face, holding his chin.

 _'They probably won't let the initiates into any training rooms until they pass initiation so I doubt I'll have any time to train while I'm there so the most logical idea would be for me to figure out exactly what the Initiation will consist of but the schools change up their initiation in some way every year Vacuo's initiation was three days ago and from what I've heard it consisted of a tournament where those who performed well enough passed so could that help me figure out what the Beacon one wi-'_

"Shut up, Deku." Izuku almost jumped out of his seat after being called out for his muttering. He looked to his right to see his old "friend", Katsuki Bakugo, sitting a few seats away from him. Each student applying for Beacon Academy was assigned a seat to sit on the airship and, as it would happen, Izuku and Katsuki were placed right next to each other. Luckily, most of the seats to the right of Bakugo were unoccupied, so there was at least a small gap between them.

"S-sorry, Kacchan." Katsuki Bakugo was wearing a black sleeveless jacket that was red on the inside, with a red tank top underneath. He had baggy black pants held up by an orange belt, accompanies by knee-high combat boots with orange soles and eyelets tucked underneath his pants.

On the back of his jacket was an orange explosion with a black hand grenade silhouette in the middle.

Thankfully, the awkward silence between the two was broken as the holographic screens on the windows of the airship changed from news about the White Fang to a picture of a huntress. _'Oh, it's Goodwitch! Why is she the one on the screen and not the headmaster?'_

 _"Hello, and welcome to Beacon! My name is Glynda Goodwitch, though some of you may know me better by my Huntress Name: Goodwitch. You have all traveled her with the goal of attending this prestigious academy. Our world is experiencing an incredible time of peace, and if you are able to demonstrate the skills necessary to become a Hunter, it will be your duty to uphold it, and it will be our turn to provide you with the knowledge and the training to protect our world."_

Before Izuku, or anyone else for that matter, had time to really take in what they'd just heard, the display of Goodwitch ended, showing a beautiful view of Sodai Lake, with Beacon Academy off in the distance.

 _"Attention all passengers, we will be arriving at Beacon Academy in the next five minutes. Please grab all your personal belongings and prepare to exit the airship safely, thank you."_

After hearing the announcement from the loudspeaker, Izuku reached down, grabbed his large yellow backpack, and began to make his way towards the exit, hoping to put a bit of distance between himself and Katsuki.

 _'Well, I guess there really isn't much I can do to figure it. I'll just have to wait until I get more information about it.'_ After a short wait, the doors to the airship opened up, showing the long walkway towards the main campus of Beacon Academy. The pathway was made of black pavement with street lamps that would've been lit had it been nighttime. Further along the pathway was a series of arches, with a smaller set surrounding a larger one. Between the two set of arches were two semi-circular pools on each side of the pond. Izuku walked a fair distance away from the main docks and stopped, looking up towards Beacon's main tower.

 _'This is it.'_ Izuku clenched his fists and gave a nervous smile to the ground in front of him _'I've spent months training for this. All Might is counting on me. There's no way I can let him down! This will be my first step in becoming a Huntsman!'_ Izuku looked back up at the path in front of him, his smile becoming slightly stronger as he took his first step…

And proceeded to trip on his own foot. Izuku braced himself with his hands, barely managing to avoid his face hitting the concrete. _'Or I'll just do that.'_ Izuku began to pick himself, seeing the boots of someone in front of him.

"Ouch, that looked like it hurt, are you… Izuku?" As Izuku began to get up to his knees, he saw a pair of large silver eyes looking at him.

"Ruby?"

"There you are! I was wondering if I was gonna end up finding you before Initiation tomorrow." Ruby was wearing the same clothing she'd worn the night the red and green teens met, with a red rectangular object hooked to her belt on her back, which Izuku could only guess was her weapon, Crescent Rose.

"Oh, so you're Izuku." Izuku turned to the right to a girl just a few inches taller than him. She was fair-skinned with lilac eyes and bright golden hair worn loose that faded to pale gold at the tips with a cowlick sticking out at the top. She wore a tan jacket that bore her midriff, with golden brown piping and short, puffy sleeves with black cuffs that featured two gold buttons. Underneath this was a low cut yellow crop top with an emblem of a black burning heart on the left breast in black. She also wore a brown belt covered by a pleated brown piece of material reaching from hip to hip around the back of her waist, with the same emblem emblazoned on the right-most pleat in gold. Underneath this was a long, white, asymmetrical piece of material reaching to her knee on the right side, as well as a pair of black mini-shorts. She wore a pair of brown, knee-high boots and orange over-the-knee socks, with the right sock pushed down just below the knee. A purplish-gray bandanna was tied around her left knee. An orange infinity scarf and black fingerless gloves completed her outfit.

"I'm Yang, Ruby's older sister. Nice to meet you." She reached out her hand which Izuku shook.

"Nice to meet you too."

"Ruby," Yang turned to her right to look at her sister, "why didn't you tell me your boyfriend was so cute~?" The Christmas themed due's eyes both blinked open at the blonde's words, Izuku's face becoming redder than Ruby's cloak.

"Yang! I talked to him on the phone like twice!"

"Y-yeah, y-you've got it a-all wrong!" Yang cheeks puffed as she tried her best to keep from busting out in pure laughter, taking pride in her own joke.

"Oh man, I'm too good."

"Is she always like this?" Izuku asked, his face slightly less red now.

"Ugh, just wait till she starts making puns."

"Aww, come on! My puns are the best. Seriously though, thanks for looking out for my little Sis. I don't know what I would've done if she got hurt by one of those criminals."

"D-Don't worry about it." Izuku scratched his head, "It was just the right thing to do. So, uh, h-how was your guy's flight over?" _'That's how you make small talk, right?'_ Unfortunately, Izuku didn't have much experience with small talk, as his upbringing as Severed left him as a social outcast. But he seemed to be picking it up alright.

"Well, it was going alright, till someone vomited on my boots." Yang responded.

"Yikes…"

"Yeah, it was pretty disgusting, right Rubes… Rubes?" Until now, Yang and Izuku hadn't realized that Ruby had vanished in the blink of an eye, and was now several feet further down the path, admiring the…

"OH LOOK! THAT KID'S GOT A COLLAPSIBLE STAFF! THAT GIRL HAS A FIRE SWORD! AND HE'S GOT A REALLY COOL RAPIER!" Before things got further out of hand, Yang grabbed Ruby out of her weapon induced trance, dragging her back over.

"Easy there, little sister, they're just weapons."

"'Just weapons?' Come on, Yang! They're an extension of ourselves, they're a part of us. They're just so cool! Right, Izuku."

"Well yeah, I guess they are pretty awesome. After all, if they weren't so useful Hunters would've dropped them a long time ago but today alargepercentageofHuntersattributemostoftheirsuccesstoskillswiththeirweaponsratherthanduetotheirsemblancesofcoursetherearethoselikeAllMightwhodon'trelyonweaponsatallbutthoseHuntersarefewandfar-" Izuku clasped his hands over his mouth the second he realized he was muttering again, which he was at least getting better at realizing. He looked at the sisters in front of him, Yang was wide-eyed with her mouth slightly open while Ruby… looked totally unphased.

"See Yang, he gets it!"

"Hey, Yang!" All three members of the group turned their attention further down the path to see a group of people looking at them. "Come on, get over here!"

"Can't be late to our first day, now can we?"

"Well," Yang turned her attention back to Izuku and Ruby, "you two seem to get along great. Glad you made a friend already Sis! Now if you'll excuse me I have to go hang out with my friends so byeeee!" And with that, Yang was off to join her friends, running up to them at speeds which rivaled her sisters, the force of her sudden departure causing Ruby to spin around in confusion.

"Wait, Sis, where are you going? Where's Initiation? When does it start? Uhh, what are gonna do now?" Ruby's spinning caused her to get dizzy, consequently making her begin to fall. Izuku looked to where she would fall, seeing… a white baggage cart?

'Uh oh.' Izuku thought. He jumped over and grabbed onto her arm, barely stopping her from falling into the luggage. Ruby slowly began to come back to her senses, shaking her head.

"Uhg. Thanks, Izuku."

"Be careful you dolts!" Izuku and Ruby turned to see who had just yelled at them. The young woman before them had pale skin with pale blue eyes and a long white hair pulled back into an off-center bun tail on the right side and pinned with an icicle-shaped tiara. She wore a thigh-length strapless dress with faint color gradation from white to pale blue at the hem. A small piece of black lace sat in the front of her neckline and the hem of the dress was scalloped and stitched to resemble snowflakes, with layers of white tulle under the skirt. Over this she wore a bell-sleeved bolero with the same color gradation as her dress from shoulder to wrist, lined in red and with a ruffled collar, and the symbol of an elegant snowflake on the back. She also wore a small apple pendant on a silver chain and thin, rectangular silver earrings. Her boots were white, wedged heeled and higher at the back than the front. They had a small silver decoration across the top of the foot and were lined in red. A thin white sash was tied around her waist with a pouch attached to the back. On the left side of her face was a crooked scar that ran vertically down her left eye and face.

"You almost fell into my luggage." The woman pointed to her left at the white baggage cart carrying several white briefcases. Once Izuku got Ruby backup and stable, he turned to get a better view of the girl who had confronted them, only for his face to get red rapidly.

 _'Oh gods, she's really beautiful!'_

"Sorry." Ruby managed to respond, though this did not seem like enough to calm the girl down.

"Sorry? Do realize what's in there?" She responded, her tone showing she was clearly annoyed. Izuku and Ruby looked at the briefcases again, taking notice of the snowflake symbol on them.

"U-uhh, I-I'm guessing it's Dust?" Izuku responded. The girl continued to look at the two of them with annoyance.

"Yes, it's Dust, and do you know what that means?"

"U-u-uhhh…"

"It means you could've caused an explosion if you had fallen into it!" The young lady was now very close to their faces, causing Ruby to tilt her head back a bit and Izuku to blush even further. After her words sunk in, Izuku and Ruby remembered just how big the explosion caused by the Fire Dust from the night they'd met had been, the one caused by the criminal the police had told them was named Roman Torchwick. Granted that one had the added strength of Roman's own gunshot, but with the amount of Dust that was likely in those briefcases… it would've been bad. Both of their eyes widened.

"Oh gods, you're right." The girl in front of him seemed to become a little calmer after Izuku's realization. "L-Look w-we're really s-sorry."

"H-Here, maybe we could help you with your things?" Ruby asked in an attempt to save face.

"Don't you see I have people for that?" The girl motioned to her right at a butler now pushing the cart along the path, followed by another butler doing the same with a second cart.

"T-that's a lot of Dust." Ruby commented. Izuku shook his head and began to clear his throat.

"L-Look, I t-think we might've gotten off on the wrong foot. M-My name's Izuku Midoriya." Izuku brought out his hand in front of him, which the girl looked at, pondering if she should shake it.

"It's Weiss." All three member of the group turned to a fourth voice nearby, which belonged to a girl holding a closed book in her right hand.

She was fair skinned with amber eyes and long, black hair, with a ribbon was tied with a large bow on the top of her head. She also had purple eyeshadow in catseye style.

Her clothing consisted of a black buttoned vest with coattails and a single silver button on the front. Underneath it was a white, sleeveless, high necked, crop undershirt and white shorts with a zipper on the front of each leg. She also had black low-heeled boots and full stockings with a color gradation of black to purple at her ankles. An emblem was visible on the outside of both thighs just below her shorts in white. On her left arm was a detached sleeve with a silver cuff around her bicep, and black ribbons were wrapped around both forearms. A small, loose scarf was wrapped around her neck and a gray magnetic backpack is strapped to her back, hidden by her hair.

"Weiss Schnee, Heiress to the Schnee Dust Company. One of the largest producers of energy propellant in the world." The now named Weiss Schnee looked to the girl with a bow with a look of smug confidence, reminding Izuku slightly of Bakugo.

"Finally, some recognition." She emphasized her last words by snapping her head at the Christmas themed duo. Though this would be short-lived as the girl in black was not yet done talking.

"The same company infamous for its controversial labor forces and questionable business partners." Weiss' face now shifted over to the other woman after being insulted, while Ruby began to snicker when Weiss failed to come up with a proper rebuttal. Izuku looked back and forth between Weiss and the girl with a bow, realizing this situation had somehow gotten worse.

 _'Weiss is probably gonna blow a fuse if this keeps up any longer.'_ He thought to himself. _'I have to do something, but I don't want to anger anyone.'_ Racking his brain for the best response possible, he quickly settled on the one he believed would best diffuse Weiss' anger.

"H-Hey, don't you think it's kinda unfair to judge her by her family and not her as a person?" All three girls turned their attention to Izuku instantly, which caused Izuku's cheeks to turn red at the attention. Ruby looked slightly disappointed, as it would seem Izuku disagreed with her laughter. Weiss kept blinking in surprise at the fact to Izuku would come to her defense. The girl in black just looked at Izuku, eventually shrugging.

"Maybe. But I also think it's unfair to have racist business practices. Guess that's just me though." The girl then calmly turned her back to the group and opened up her book reading as she walked along. Izuku's head and shoulders drooped as he sighed.

"Great, less than half an hour after landing and I already made someone mad." Ruby patted him on the shoulder in an attempt to comfort him. Izuku looked up to see Weiss was still standing there, having not moved since Izuku spoke, simply staring at the boy in green. After staring at each other for a few seconds, Weiss jerked her head as she came back to reality. Quickly turning on her heels and walking down the path to the rest of her luggage, the slightest hint of red on her cheeks. "Two someones."

"Hey, are you guys alright?" Ruby and Izuku turned around to see a tall teenage boy with dark-blue eyes and short, messy blond hair, who was about half a foot taller than Izuku. He wore a black short-sleeved hoodie with detached reddish-orange sleeves. Covering his hoodie a white diamond-shaped chest plate cut off above his lower abdomen and placed over his shoulders are a pair of white spaulders with rerebraces set under them. Below he wore blue jeans with a white patch placed on the left knee and black sneakers, and elbow guards with cords strung through them and black high tops. He also had two belts crisscrossing his waist, both different shades of brown, with a pair of small pouches on them. He wore brown wrist-length gloves with exposed fingertips and small metal plates over the back. What appeared to be a blue hilted sword was in a sheath hanging on his left hip. "It looked like those other two people got pretty mad there."

"Heh, yeah I guess you could say that." Izuku said, very much wishing that the conversation would've ended better. He would've liked the chance to talk with the two of them more. Especially Weiss. "A-Anyway, I'm Izuku Midoriya."

"Name's Jaune Arc." As the two shook hands, Izuku noticed Ruby had yet to speak. When he turned around, he saw she had her hand over her mouth, trying to contain laughter for some reason.

"Aren't you the guy who threw up on the ship?"

* * *

 _Same Day, Same Time, Beacon Private Airship Landing Zone_

To the right of the main Beacon Airship docks was a smaller set of docks for smaller ships to land. Currently, no ships were docked, with the only one scheduled to do so today about to dock into port. The ship was a Luxury Bullhead, being larger than most and having a small section with beds, making it more useful for long distance travel. The inside was also far nicer, with comfortable benches and a small pantry.

 _"So Shoto, are you excited? You're finally gonna learn to be a Huntsman now."_

"You say that like today's my first day of training, Sis." Currently, the sole resident onboard the airship, with the exception of the pilot, was a teen by the name of Shoto Todoroki. His hair was semi-long in length, being split evenly along the middle, with the right side being white, and the left side being a dark red. He had heterochromia, making his right eye grey and his left eye turquoise. His left eye also had a red burn scar covering it. His outfit was quite simple, consisting of a dark blue jacket, black t-shirt, dark blue pants, a white utility belt, and white boots with small spikes on the bottom. He also wore a silver-colored combat vest.

On the back of his combat vest was a Yin Yang Symbol, though it used red and white over the traditional black and white, with a blue ring surrounding it.

 _"I know, but still, isn't it great! You'll be at an actual academy instead of training at home. And you'll get to meet a bunch of new people!"_

"The academy will be nice, but I'm indifferent on the presence of others."

 _"Aww, come on, I'm sure you'll make some new friends, especially once you get assigned to a team."_

"Right." Despite Shoto's affirmative response, it was clear that he wasn't exactly thrilled with the idea of being on a team. Looking out the window and seeing the ship was close to landing, Shoto got up and walked back into the area where he'd slept on the way to Beacon.

 _"Well... if you forgot anything, let me know and I'll send it over to you as soon as I can."_

"Will do, Fuyumi. The ship's about to dock. I'll message you after Initiation is over." Shoto picked up his pre-packed duffle bag and slung it over his left shoulder. He looked over to the other side of the room, a large briefcase sitting on his bed. He walked over to it and opened it up to inspect its contents.

It contained a five and a half foot black Zweihänder with a silver cross guard and hilt and an ornate design on the blade. While most people will kill to have a sword as nice as Frostfire, Shoto did not have such sentiments. He would have, had it been a gift from anyone except the person who had given it to him. Shoto closed the case and grabbed it in his right hand, walking back out to towards the exit of the room.

 _"Ok… well, I'll talk to you later I guess. And Shoto… if you ever need to talk to me, or Natsuo… please, don't hesitate."_ Shoto paused at his sister's words, his eyes eventually settling their gaze on the only mirror in the room, specifically on the reflection of his scar.

"Love you, Sis." Fuyumi sighed at the lack of response, though she truly didn't expect a straightforward response from her younger brother.

 _"Love you too, Shoto. And please, do try to make some friends."_ As Shoto put his Scroll in his pocket, the hull doors began to open up. With a quick thanks to the pilot, he was off the ship and began his walk down the path. We made his way to the amphitheater briskly, hoping not to attract any attention from those who might recognize just who he was, or rather, who his father was.

 _'I don't want anything to do with that bastard.'_

* * *

 _Same Day, Several Minutes Later, Beacon Plaza_

"Look, I'm just saying that motion sickness is a lot more common than people let on!" Currently, Izuku, Ruby, Jaune were walking through Beacon's Plaza, taking a path which lead them by a small river on one side, and trees on the other.

"Sorry, it's just that Vomit Boy was the first thing that came to mind when I saw you." Ruby defended herself.

"Oh yeah?" Jaune responded, "Well what if I started calling you… uh… help me out here, Izuku." Izuku blushed slightly.

"I-I think I'm good, actually." Jaune sighed in response, saddened he had no way to retort his new nickname.

"Well, the name's Jaune Arc! Short, sweet, rolls off the tongue - ladies love it!" Ruby and Izuku both raised a brow at this.

"Do they?" Ruby asked.

"They will. Well, I-I hope they will. My mom always says that… nevermind." Izuku began to see that Ruby had no clue how uncomfortable she was making Jaune.

 _'I should probably help him out. What would get Ruby to focus on something else… Oh!'_ "Hey Ruby," Ruby turned to her right to look at Izuku, "when we talked on our Scrolls the other day, you said you wanted to get a chance to show me your weapon properly." Ruby's eyes widened with excitement

"Oh right! How could I forget?" Without any hesitation, Ruby pulled out her giant scythe, stabbing its blade into the path below them. Jaune jumped back almost instantly.

"Oh gods! Is that a scythe?" Ruby brought her scythe up into her hands.

"Crescent Rose is also a customizable high-impact sniper rifle!"

"Huh?"

"She means it's also a gun." Izuku chimed in.

"Oh. That's awesome!"

"Oh, Izuku! You also said you'd let me see your weapons too. You said they were melee weapons, but you didn't say much else." Izuku blinked for a second before fully realizing what Ruby said.

"O-Oh, right." Izuku reached into the pockets on his utility belt and pulled out two metal disks with red dust energy flowing through them. Ruby looked on with wide eyes while Jaune moved over to get a closer look, making sure not to get too close to the business end of Crescent Rose. Izuku turned his hand over to look at the inside of his glove.

Izuku slid one of the disks into the small metal attachment on his left glove, before doing the same on his right glove. He pressed a button right below the palm of the two attachments on each glove. On cue, the honeycomb pattern on each of his gloves changed from dark green to red, and from each hexagon in the pattern emerged red, dragon-like, scales about an inch in length which pointed backward towards Izuku. From the knuckles of the gloves, rougher, jagged scales emerged, which pointed outwards from the gloves.

"I call them the Peacekeepers. The little disks in my belt have different types of Dust in them. When I put them in the metal part of my glove and press this button, these little scales come out and act as extra protection for my hands, while also giving my hits more impact. The ones on my knuckles are a lot sharper, and I can them out as projectiles if I need to fight at range."

"Those are so cool!" Ruby was now inches away from Izuku's gloves. "Why didn't you show them to me sooner?! Oh, what's your weapon, Jaune?" She and Izuku both turned to Jaune.

"Oh! I, uh…" Jaune reached down to his left hip and pulled out a silver longsword with a golden crossguard and a blue hilt. "I got this sword!"

"Ohhhh!"

"Yeah, and I've got a shield, too!" He grabbed the scabbard with his left hand, which expanded into a shield with a symbol of two golden crescents on them.

"So what do they…" Before Ruby could finish asking, she and Jaune turned to see Izuku, writing furiously in a notebook.

"It'salongswordpairedwithashieldwhichsimultaneouslyactsasit'ssheathwhichcreatesconvenienceincarryingbutitdoesn'treallyworkextremelywellatrangesoitwillrequiretheabilitytoclosethedistancebetweentheuserandthetargetbuttheshieldcouldhelppreventamorerangedtargetfromdealingmajordamagebeforeyoucouldgetinto-" Izuku looked up to see Jaune and Ruby looking at him. With a massive blush on his face, he quickly shoved his notebook into his yellow backpack.

"U-U-Uh, yeah! Y-Your s-sword's really cool, Jaune!" Izuku said while furiously scratching the back of his head. Ruby began laughing to herself while Jaune blinked at what he'd just seen.

"Uhhh, thanks. Crocea Mors was actually used by my great-great-grandfather during the Great War."

"Sounds more like a family heirloom to me." Ruby said. "Well I like it! Not many people have an appreciation for the classics these days."

"Yeah, the classics..." Jaune responded.

"Excuse me!" The trio all stopped after being yelled at and turned to where they heard the voice coming from. They looked about ten yards away to see a tall boy looking at them. He had black hair, blue eyes, and rectangular half-rim glasses. His clothing was a black one-piece suit with a high collar. Pieces of silver-colored armor covered his body, including a breastplate, metal vambraces, and a metal color around his neck. He also had heavy metal boots that went up to his knees.

"The Beacon Academy Initiate's Guidebook clearly states that all Initiates must keep their weapons stowed until Initiation begins! It is disrespectful to blatantly ignore this rule! Please return your weapons to their respective holsters at once!" All three members of the trio looked to one another, then looked back towards the blue-haired boy.

"There's a Guidebook?" Izuku asked. The blue haired boy blinked in response.

"Of course there's a Guidebook! Beacon Academy is one of the foremost institutions in all of Remnant. For them to not have some sort of guide for potential students would be incredibly unbecoming!" As the boy spoke, his arms moved in a robotic manner, weirding out the trio he was scolding.

"Ok, sorry about that." After Jaune's apology, the three of them put away their weapons. Ruby placed Crescent Rose hack on her belt, Izuku pressed the buttons on his gloves and took out the Dust Disks, and Jaune returned his sword to his side, though he fumbled with the shield a bit.

"Thank you very much." The boy said, before turning and walking away.

"Well" Ruby scratched the back of her head, "that guy was… interesting."

"Ya know what, let's just get to the amphitheater," Izuku said. Ruby and Jaune nodded, though all three of them stood still, looking at each other. "Do you guys know where that is?"

"We were following you, dude." Jaune stated. Izuku sighed and turned back, looking at the boy with blue hair.

"I'm guessing he knows the way."

After several minutes of following the spectacled young man, the trio eventually made their way into the amphitheater. It was a large, circular room, with a small platform with a microphone on the far end. The room was entirely crowded with students, as the trio was among the last to enter.

"Ruby, over here!" The trio turned towards the front of the auditorium, seeing Yang waving towards her little sister. "I saved you a spot!"

"Oh! Hey, I-I gotta go! I'll see you after the ceremony!" With that, Ruby went off to her sister.

"Hey wait!" Jaune called out to Ruby, who by this point was long gone. "Great, where are we supposed to find another nice, quirky girl to talk to?"

"What now?" Izuku asked.

"I'm gonna try and go find her. I'll see you later tonight, Izuku." Jaune then walked off in the general direction of where Ruby went. Izuku sighed.

 _'Alone again. Not that it's anything new. Might as well try and go after them.'_ Izuku began after Jaune and Ruby, however, they were so far into the crowd by this point that he had trouble tracking them down. After several seconds of searching, he eventually bumped into someone's luggage, which almost fell to the ground. "Oh, sorry about…" When he turned to apologize, he was met by a pair of heterochronic eyes and a particularly nasty burn scar. "Sorry about that."

"It's fine. I'm sure you didn't damage anything." Shoto Todoroki responded before turned away from Izuku, his left side and his scar facing away from him.

"O-Oh, good. Hey, you wouldn't have happened to see a girl in a red hood or blonde guy in armor have you?" Shoto turned back to him, though Izuku noticed he didn't turn enough for his scar to be totally visible. 'Did I stare by accident?'

"Sorry, I haven't." The half and half young man responded, using the same even tone as before.

"Oh, t-thanks anyway. Mind if I stand here while we're waiting for the speech?" This statement seemed to catch Shoto off guard. He took second, looking at the young successor and his attire before looking back up at Izuku.

"No, I have no problem with you being there."

"Cool thanks. M-My name's Izuku Midoriya." Izuku brought out his hand between the two of them, expecting Shoto to return the favor. However, the young man looked at Izuku's hand with… suspicion? The young man's natural glare intensified the longer he looked at Izuku's outstretched hand as if he was trying to figure out some puzzle 'What's with this guy? Did I say something?'

"You don't know who I am, do you?" Izuku was surprised when the half and half young man spoke, still having his eyes on Izuku's hand.

"U-Uh, nooo. S-Should I?"

 _'"And please, do try to make some friends." *sigh* Alright Fuyumi.'_ In a somewhat reluctant manner, Shoto brought out his hand and shook Izuku's.

"Shoto Todoroki." Izuku smiled at his new acquaintance.

"Nice to meet you, Shoto." 'Shoto Todoroki. Should I know that name? Shoto Todoroki….. Shoto…. Todoroki…. Todoroki? THAT TODOROKI?' "W-Wait, are y-you related to Enji Todoroki?" Izuku noticed Shoto tense up at the mention of the name, though he missed his left hand instantly curling into a fist.

"Yes, but please don't bring it up. I don't want any attention from it."

"O-Oh ok." Before Izuku could ask anything further, he was cut off by the sound of a microphone being turned on. The two turned their attention to the stage where Professor Ozpin was standing at said microphone.

 _"I'll... keep this brief. You have traveled here today in search of knowledge, to hone your craft and acquire new skills, and when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose, direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step. For you, that first step will be the Initiation Exam. Pass it, and this school will equip you with the ability to fulfill you goal of becoming a Hunter. That is if you can pass it."_ And with those ominous words, Ozpin departed from the mic, only for Goodwitch to replace him there.

 _"You will gather in the ballroom tonight; tomorrow, the Initiation Exam begins. Be ready. You are dismissed."_ Goodwitch walked away from the mic, leaving many in the audience confused.

"That was brief. And quite unexpected."

"He isn't wrong. Becoming a Hunter is one of the most difficult professions out there. You can't just coast by and expect to make the cut. You have to work hard in order to succeed. There are probably a lot of people here who think that they can become the next All Might, but if they want to do that, they have to work for it. And besides, Beacon doesn't have the time and resources to accept everyone who shows up at the door. They have to take those who are willing to work for their goals." Izuku snapped out of his monologue, turning to see Shoto staring at him. "S-sorry about that." He began to scratch the back of his head. "I-It's j-just a habit is all. S-So, do you wanna head to the ballroom together?" Shoto thought for a moment, likely still trying to take in everything Izuku had just spouted out.

"Sure." With that to two headed out of the auditorium.

* * *

 _Same Day, 9:00 P.M., Beacon Academy Ballroom_

After depositing their gear into the locker room opened up to Initiates, Izuku and Shoto made their way into Beacon's Ballroom. By this point the two were now in sleeping attire, Izuku wearing a white t-shirt which had "pajamas" written on in black with black shorts, while Shoto had a blue t-shirt and white shorts.

After choosing a spot in the auditorium, the two sat on their sleeping bags and made some basic small talk. Shoto had come from the Kingdom Mistral, specifically the Kingdom's namesake city. He had done mostly private training to prepare for Initiation, mainly with his sword Frostfire and Aura training. Throughout their discussion, Izuku noticed Shoto's reluctance to discuss certain topics. He never brought up much about anyone from Mistral, friends, family or otherwise, and didn't discuss anything about his semblance.

The semblance part Izuku could understand perfectly. Depending on what the Initiation entailed, it could be advantageous to keep information like semblances a secret. Though that wouldn't explain why he discussed his weapon, which could be considered just as important in combat.

The lack of details about anyone else in his life was what really gave Izuku pause. 'He said he trained privately, so maybe he didn't have many friends growing up. I would certainly know a thing or two about that.' Izuku also couldn't help but think of Shoto's father, Enji Todoroki, more commonly known by the name Endeavor. He was the Number Two ranked Huntsman in all of Remnant, having held the position for many years. He had completed more solo missions than any registered Huntsman in history, and his work in Mistral had largely contributed to the Kingdom controlling as much territory as it did. So why would Shoto not bring him up at all?

'If my dad were one of the greatest Huntsmen in history, I'd probably feel a lot of pressure. Maybe he's nervous about living up to Endeavor's legacy, and doesn't want to be reminded of it? Or maybe he doesn't want to be handed things freely from his last name alone, and would rather earn his place through his own talent and strength… yeah, that's probably it.'

When it was Izuku's turn to talk, he essentially covered the same topics. He mostly talked about growing up in Aldera with his mother. When he mentioned his months of training, he made sure to leave All Might out of it.

"It sounds like you put a lot of work into your training." Shoto said towards the end of Izuku's explanation of his regimen.

"Yeah, it felt like going through hell most days… but still, you can't be a Huntsman if you aren't willing to put in the effort." Shoto nodded in agreement. As Izuku was preparing to continue their conversation…

"So this is where you went off too, Izuku." A certain blonde interrupted them, with rose themed sister right behind her.

"Oh, hey guys! Where've you been?" Izuku looked up to see Yang and Ruby standing before them. Yang was wearing a yellow tank top with her emblem on the front in red, while Ruby wore a black tank top with a heart-shaped Beoolf head, and long white pants adorned with pink roses.

"We're just a little ways over there." Yang turned and pointed over her shoulder. "So Izuku, you gonna introduce me to your handsome friend here~?" Yang turned and leaned down, looking at Shoto.

"Shoto Todoroki." Yang's shoulders slouched a bit at the icy-hot teen's deadpan response.

 _'Not even a little bit flustered? Damn, teasing him won't be any fun.'_ However, this sadness went undetected by Shoto. "Name's Yang Xiao Long. and this here's my sister Ruby." Yang turned and gestured to her sister who did a small wave at Shoto.

"Hi."

"Nice to meet the two of you. Have you and Izuku known each other for long?"

"Nah. Izuku and I just met this morning. But he and Ruby met when they stopped some big time criminal from robbing a Dust Shop." Shoto turned to Izuku with a look of… surprise? The green hair young man honestly couldn't quite tell, but he assumed it was surprise.

"I think you may have left that part out." Izuku blushed slightly and scratched the back of his head.

"I-I was gonna get eventually."

"Apparently they sent none other than Roman Torchwick home with his tail between his legs!" Yang reached over and put Ruby in a headlock. "Oh, I'm so proud my baby Sis is growing up!"

"Yang! Cut it out!" Ruby immediately began to try and break out of Yang's headlock, quickly dissolving into an impromptu "fight" between the two sisters. Izuku sweatdropped at this act.

 _'So this is what it's like having a sibling, huh?'_ Shoto looked on for a moment before looking to his right at Izuku.

 _'Stopping a robbery with the help of only one other person? Maybe I underestimated him.'_

"What in the world is going on over here?! Don't you realize some of us are trying to sleep?" This stopped the fight between Ruby and Yang, ending with the former having trapped the letter's leg, and all four looked to see that none other than Weiss Schnee.

The young heiress had let her hair down and was wearing a faded blue nightgown with short sleeves and white trim, with the Schnee Crest on the upper-right chest. Upon Weiss and Yang making eye contact, their moods soured greatly.

"Oh not you again!" The two yelled simultaneously.

 _'Guess they met up at some point.'_ Izuku thought.

"Shh! Guys, she's right, people are trying to sleep!" Ruby said in an attempt to mediate their argument.

"Oh, now you're on my side!"

"I was always on your side! We both were, right Izuku?" Ruby gestured to the still sitting Izuku, who then looked and made eye contact with Weiss. Weiss' expression seemed to soften slightly, but it was still clear to Izuku she was not happy. Sadly, this prolonged eye contact caused Izuku to become very embarrassed.

"U-Uh, yeah, it was just a simple accident! We were never mad at you or anything!"

"Yeah, what's your problem with my sister? She's only trying to be nice!" Izuku sighed quietly as Weiss attention was again directed to Yang, who he internally reminded to thank later.

"She's a hazard to my health!"

"Excuse me! Will you five please quiet down so that we all could get some sleep! It's incredibly disgraceful for potential Hunters-in-training to act in such an unprofessional manner!" The five teens looked over to see the blue-haired boy with glasses Izuku and Ruby had ran into earlier with Jaune. The young man was currently wearing pajamas with blue and white vertical stripes, along with a matching sleeping cap. Weiss turned to look one last time at Izuku before sighing and turning back to the teen with glasses.

"Apologies, things just got a little out of hand, Tenya." With this, Weiss and the now named Tenya walked off in separate directions.

"Those meanies would know each other." Ruby said to herself.

"They aren't wrong, we should all go get some rest." Shoto said as he turned and grabbed his pillow.

"Good idea, let's head back to our stuff Ruby." And with a quick exchange of goodbyes and goodnights, the four teens were all in their sleeping bags.

As Izuku closed his eyes for the night, he felt the feeling of intense nervousness from this morning creep back into his mind. Everyone else he'd met today didn't seem exactly like pushovers. He already knew Ruby was talented with her weapon, and her sister was likely above her in skill level. Weiss probably got the best training money could buy. And that's not to mention he was a couple feet from the son of the Number Two Hun-

 _'No!'_ Izuku mentally scolded himself. _'I've spent almost a year training with All Might. I can't let myself get distracted by anyone else! I made a commitment to become a Huntsman, and I'm gonna do just that. I've come too far to fail!"_

 _"I can do this!"_

* * *

 **A/N**

 **And with that, Chapter Three is finally out! Again, really sorry the wait was so long, but hopefully you guys enjoy it nonetheless.**

 **Chapter Commentary:**

 **-This Chapter had by far the most rewriting of the three so far. I won't get into all of them here, but the tower scene, the airship scene, the Weiss intro scene, and the scene in the amphitheater were all very different initially, along with some scenes getting scrapped altogether. They ended up the way they are now mostly because I wanted to prioritize interactions with certain characters.**

 **-We also got to see Izuku's weapon, Peacekeepers, for the first time. Hopefully I described them well enough that you guys understood them. If you didn't, the abridged version is they're gloves that produce scales made of scale for protection that can also be used as projectiles. I imagine the mechanism where Izuku puts in the disks being similar in look to Spider Man's Web Shooters.**

 **-The other weapon introduced was Shoto's Zweihander, Frostfire. There's nothing too special about it, as he has he completely broken Semblance to use in battle as well.**

 **Now for Reviews and Housekeeping**

 **1jesus- Glad you enjoyed it! Hopefully this one was good too.**

 **treyalexander63917- Yeah, Weiss definitely isn't the greatest person in Volume 1. And while things got off to a wrong start, she'll come around in time. Hopefully I can write it well!**

 **Mind - I definitely get where you're coming from, and don't worry, Izuku x Weiss will be the main pairing for the story. When other relationships occur, they're not gonna take up too much of the spotlight. However, they'll definitely happen at some point down the line.**

 **MarvelNinja10- Bakugo x Nora would be a lot of fun to see, but you're right that it doesn't exactly make sense. Bakugo x Yang is probably the most likely pairing at this point.**

 **Finch Daemon- I completely missed that, so thanks for pointing it out. I'm not too annoyed by it to go back and edit the chapter just to fix that one detail, but if I ever see it fit to go edit earlier chapters later down the line, I'll fix it then.**

 **NOGARD- Here's the upload!**

 **Obviously, the next chapter will begin the Initiation Exam. It will either be one really long chapter, or two separate chapters, depending on how much I end up writing.**

 **Stay tuned till then!**


	4. Into the Emerald Forest

**Welcome back, guys! I know it's been a while, again, but I'm still glad to get this chapter out, and I'm even happier people seem to be enjoying it. Now then, time for Chapter 4!**

 **I do not own RWBY nor My Hero Academia all rights belong to Monty Oum and Kohei Horikoshi and their respective publishing companies.**

 **I do not own the cover image.**

 **Chapter 4: Into the Emerald Forest**

* * *

 _Initiation Day, 6:00 A.M., Beacon Academy Ballroom_

Izuku stretched out his arms as he began to get up. He'd gotten a decent amount of sleep, especially considering the nerves that he was dealing with late the night before. Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, he noticed Shoto had recently gotten up as well and was almost done packing up his sleeping bag. Most everyone else in the auditorium was still asleep, with the only exceptions being the girl with a black bow from the yesterday, a tall girl with red hair, and the boy Weiss referred to as Tenya the night before.

"Good Morning," Izuku said quiet enough so as not to wake anyone up, but loud enough for Shoto to hear him. The half and half teen turned around and looked down at Izuku.

"Morning," he said with a nod.

"What time is it?" Izuku asked as he began to gather up his belongings.

"6 O'Clock, the exam is supposed to start in two hours. It'd be wise to go get food."

"Sounds good." And so the two Hunter hopefuls began the morning of what would prove to be a very stressful day.

Breakfast was fairly quiet, as there were few people in the cafeteria. Izuku had a slight scare when he made eye contact with Katsuki, who must've been the first person to wake of everyone taking the exam, as Izuku hadn't seen him in the ballroom earlier. Katsuki's stare was as hate-filled as usual, but thankfully it was brief. Izuku did make sure to sit down a good distance from his old "friend" though. After the two ate they went to the men's locker room, the two picking out their own shower stall and showering, before changing into their Hunter's clothes.

They then proceeded to the weapon's room, preparing all the necessary equipment they may need. Izuku made sure to pack a variety of Dust, some medical supplies, and some paracord rope. Shoto brought with him mostly Ice Dust, with a small amount of Fire Dust. ' _That's all he's bringing? He must be pretty confident if he's only taking that and his sword.'_ Unfortunately, Izuku was quickly taken from his thought.

"Stupid Deku." Izuku eyes shot open wide as he whipped his head around at the sound of his "nickname". Katsuki was walking directly towards him, wearing the same Hunter's outfit he'd worn the day before, along with a pair of green gauntlets, with his hands tucked in his pockets. Shoto turned around to look at the ashy blonde teen, his expression a mixture of confusion and irritation. "Get out of my way before I set you on fire." Upon this threat Shoto's expression soured while Izuku's became more fearful, stepping to the side and waving his hands in defense.

"O-Oh u-uh h-hey good m-morning! L-Let's j-just both do our best out there, o-ok Kacchan?" Katsuki scoffed, simply walking past without giving a second look at Izuku, though the green successor thought he heard Katsuki mumble something about "Severed trash". Despite this, Izuku was glad that this was the type of treatment he'd received from Katsuki for the past ten months, as it was small fry compared to the treatment he'd been given before the Grimm attack in Aldera.

"What was that about?" Izuku turned to see Yang and Ruby, coming from the same direction Katsuki had, both in their Hunter's outfits. Yang, the one who'd asked the question, had knitted eyebrows with crossed arms while Ruby, though clearly put off by what she'd just seen, turned her attention to a nearby locker to grab some equipment.

"I'm not sure,' responded Shoto, "I saw him this morning in the cafeteria, but we haven't interacted with him all day."

"O-Oh, t-that's Kacchan. H-he's an old friend. We grew up together in the same village." Izuku responded, scratching at the back of his head. Yang raised her eyebrow, clearly unsatisfied with that answer.

"Friend?"

"Forgive me if I'm wrong, but I didn't think friends greeted each other with that sort of hostility."

"No, you're pretty much on the money Shoto. What's his deal, Izuku? And why did he call you Deku?"

Izuku's face reddened with embarrassment. "W-Well, K-Kacchan always acts like that. D-Deku is just a nickname he's had for me since we were little."

"You mean it's an insult," Yang responded.

"Also who the heck name's there kid 'Kacchan'?" Ruby added.

"H-His real name's Katsuki Bakugo, Kacchan is just what I call him."

"You gave a cute nickname to a guy who bullies you?" Yang asked.

"I-It wasn't always this way. We used to be pretty good friends. A-Actually, he used to treat me must worse until just under a year ago." Shoto, Ruby, and Yang exchanged a look of confusion, before turning back to Izuku.

"I don't know what point you're trying to make here Izuku, but you're doing a poor job." Yang deadpanned.

"Hey, don't be such a downer Yang. Today's gonna be awesome!" Ruby cheer as she finished getting Crescent Rose out of her locker.

"You seem rather excited," Shoto said having strapping Frostfire onto the back of his combat vest.

"And why wouldn't I be, Shoto? No more awkward small talk or 'getting-to-know-you' stuff. Today, I get to let my sweetheart do the talking." Ruby said as she cradled and stroked Crescent Rose with a happy sigh, causing the two boys in the group to look on in confusion.

"Well, remember, Ruby, you're not the only person here trying to pass the Initiation. If you wanna grow up, you're gonna have to meet new people and learn to work together." Yang stated.

"Ughh, you sound just like Dad!" Ruby responded to her sister, attaching Crescent Rose onto the back of her belt. "Okay, first of all: What does meeting new people have to do with being a Huntress? And second of all: I don't need new people to grow up! I drink milk!"

' _Is milk a key requirement to being an adult? Maybe I should ask Fuyumi…'_ Shoto thought to himself.

'Well, most Hunters have to work together to complete high-level assignments. That's a large part of the reason why the four academies put students into teams of four, and why, even if the team officially disbands, Hunters usually end up working with their teammates on missions after they graduate. Some threats are just too much for one person to handle." Izuku responded, surprising himself at how fast the response came out.

"Yeah, what he said," Yang responded.

"Well, I don't know…" Ruby turned around and began looking at equipment in her locker. "teams have four people, right? I'll just… be on a team with you guys then."

Welllll," Yang brought her hair around and began stroking it in an almost nervous manner, "maybeee you should try being on someone else's team." Ruby closer her locker and instantly did a 180 and marched up to her sister.

"My dear sister Yang, are you implying that you do not wish to be on the same team as me?"

"W-What? No! Of course I do! I just thought...well… maybe being on a different team could help you break out of your shell."

"What the-? What do you mean 'break out of my shell?' That's ridiculous!"

Izuku and Shoto turned to each with similar looks of embarrassment from being witness to the sisterly debate.

"So much for Ruby's cheerfulness." Izuku silently said to his companion.

"The advice isn't terrible. My elder sister may have given me similar advice on the phone yesterday." This peaked Izuku's interest, curious at Shoto's mention of the family after his objection to doing so the night before.

"Really? What your sister li-"

"AHHHHHH!" All four were cut off from their conversations as a blur of black, white, and red hit the wall next to them. They turned to see Jaune Arc, of all people, slouched against a locker with a red spear going through his hoodie, Aura flickering slightly at the force of hitting the lockers. The four of them turned to where Jaune had come from, seeing Weiss standing next to a girl who Izuku had seen earlier this morning, who yelled out "Sorry" while waving at Jaune.

The girl was much taller and more muscular than any other girl Izuku had seen at Beacon so far. She had red hair in a waist-length ponytail, curled slightly into a loose ringlet. She had light-green eyeshadow around the far upper corners of her green eyes. As a top, she wore a brown overbust corset with a vertical strip of lighter brown in the center. Additionally, she wore an elastic, black, A-line mini skirt and brown opera-length gloves on both arms with a red, ankle-length sash that wrapped around her skirt. There was a small circular bronze plate on her right hip opposite two pouches with both connected to a belt. The plate bore a shield and spear emblem. Underneath her hair, she wore a brown circlet adorned with a pair of small, green, teardrop-shaped emeralds on thin chains. She also sported a large bronze gorget around her neck and a bronze bracelet on the upper half of her left arm. She had elaborate bronze greaves that started below her mid-thigh before continuing downwards into her boots, as well as a pair of cuisses that began mid-thigh and ended slightly above her knees. She was also equipped with a bronze bracer atop the sleeve on her left arm. Her high-heeled boots were brown with bronze trim, matching her skirt and sleeves and reaching up to mid-calf.

This girl, with a blush of embarrassment on her face, ran up and grabbed her spear from Jaune's hoodie. "It was nice meeting you." The girl said before return back to where she had come from.

"Likewise…" Jaune said, still shaken up from being flung across the locker room. As the girl walked back to Weiss, Izuku saw the heiress scoff at Jaune with a look of disgust before turning away, only giving a brief glance to the four of them.

"Uhhh… what just happened, Jaune?" Ruby asked while looking down at the blonde teen.

"I tried talking to Weiss. Things went south fast."

"Guess you're having a bit of trouble there, ladykiller?" Yang asked as Ruby extended a hand down to Jaune.

"I don't understand. My dad said all women look for is confidence! Where did I go wrong?"

' _Ladykiller? He was trying to flirt with Weiss? No wonder things went so bad."_ Izuku thought to himself.

"Who was that anyway?" Yang asked.

"Pyrrha Nikos." The four of them turned to Shoto at his response. "She was a well-known tournament fighter in Mistral. She trained at Sanctum Academy in Argus and won the Mistral Regional Tournament four years in a row."

"Ha, never pictured you as the fanboy type there, Shoto." Yang joked.

"I'm not. She's just fairly famous in Mistral." Shoto responded. ' _Not to mention how much_ he _brought her up before I came here.'_ "I'm Shoto Todoroki by the way." The half and half young man said to the blonde who'd come flying in.

"Jaune Arc."

" _Would all Applicants please report to Beacon Cliff for Initiation? Again, all Applicants report to Beacon Cliff immediately."_ The five students looked up as they listened to the announcement from Glynda Goodwitch over the school's intercom system.

"Beacon Cliff?" Izuku said with a nervous voice. "Why there?"

"Welp, only one way to find out! Let's go" Yang said as she lead the five hopeful teens out of the locker room, a mixture of nervousness from Izuku and Jaune, excitement from Ruby and Yang, and a look of stoicism from Shoto.

* * *

 _Initiation Day, 8:00 A.M., Beacon Cliff_

So far, the Initiation had not been what Izuku had expected. All of the initiates had lined themselves up along Beacon Cliff, overlooking the Emerald Forest. Each student stood on top of a grey square platform marked by the Beacon Insignia, stretching down as far as the eye could see.

Izuku was at the far right end of the line, with those next to him, from closest to furthest, being Shoto, Jaune, Ruby, and Yang. Further down the line between various unknown students stood Katsuki, Weiss, Pyrrha, Tenya, and the girl with the black bow. Additionally, Izuku couldn't help but be distracted by the noises of an orange haired girl and a black haired boy, with the former talking non-stop.

In front of the students stood a variety of people, all of whom were Beacon Staff members, each with a large Scroll Tablet, which Izuku assumed was for the purpose of evaluating the Applicants. Ozpin stood a short distance towards the back, with Goodwitch standing beside him. Towards the front of the group of teachers stood…

"WHAT'S UP BEACON ACADEMY APPLICANTS? THANKS FOR TUNING INTO ME, YOUR POTENTIAL FUTURE TEACHER! LET'S HEAR SOME NOISE!" Unfortunately, this Pro Huntsmen's cheers were met a deafening silence.

He was a tall, slender man with long blonde hair spiked upwards in a huge tuft behind his head, and a small mustache. His eyes had concentric greenish-yellow pupils. and a large smile was on his face. His wardrobe consisted of a black jacket with a very tall collar, upturned and complete with studs, and matching black pants and knee-high boots. He sported tan shoulder pads and a red belt and elbow pads, all studded, and black fingerless gloves, and a multi-directional speaker obscuring his neck. Lastly, he had a pair of headphones with the word "HAGE" written on the headband and a pair of orange-tinted sunglasses.

"NERVES MAKING' YA MELLOW HUH? THAT'S COOL WITH ME. I'M HERE TO TELL YOU KIDS HOW THIS EXAM'S GONNA GO DOWN. ARE YOU READY!?" Again, the Pro received no response.

"Oh my gods that's Present Mic! I've listened to his weekly radio show so many times!" Izuku had his hands held to his face in awe as he mumbled, earning strange glances from his friends next to him.

Ruby shrugged, "Well, I guess this is what happens when you go to a school with Hunters for teachers."

"HERE'S HOW THIS INITIATION WILL GO DOWN! IN CASE YOU'VE SOMEHOW MISSED IT, THAT RIGHT THERE'S THE EMERALD FOREST. YOUR TASK IS SIMPLE: GO INTO THE FOREST, MAKE YOUR WAY TO AN ABANDONED TEMPLE AT THE FOREST'S NORTHERN END, RETRIEVE A RELIC FROM IT, THEN MAKE YOUR WAY TO AN EVACUATION SITE ON THE TOP OF CLIFF JUST WEST OF THE TEMPLE. DO ALL THAT BY 8:00 P.M. TODAY, AND YOU'LL BECOME A STUDENT HERE AT THE ACADEMY!"

' _They expect us to do all of that?'_ Izuku thought.

"IF YOU'RE WONDERING ABOUT THE GRIMM IN THE FOREST, DON'T WORRY LISTENERS. THE BEACON STAFF HAS SPENT THE PAST SEVERAL DAYS CLEARING OUT THE MAJOR GRIMM IN THE FOREST TO ENSURE YOU WON'T ENCOUNTER ANYTHING ABOVE YOUR GUY'S LEVEL. THE WORST YOU'LL FIND MIGHT BE A YOUNG KING TAIJITU." This caused Izuku, Jaune, and some of the other students to give a sigh of relief, while Katsuki was slightly disappointed.

"NOW YOU ALL MAY BE WONDERING, 'WHAT ABOUT PICKING TEAMS?' YOU LISTENERS WHO PASS THE EXAM WILL RECEIVE YOUR TEAMS TODAY!" This caused Ruby to give out a silent cry, knowing she would be unable to avoid the formation of teams, while Katsuki grumbled inaudibly to himself.

"OBVIOUSLY BEING PAIRED WITH A GOOD TEAM IS IMPORTANT, AS WORKING WITH THOSE YOU CAN'T GET ALONG WITH JUST WON'T CUT IT OUT IN THE FIELD. BUT HERE AT BEACON ACADEMY, WE DO THINGS A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENTLY. THEREFORE, THE FIRST PERSON YOU MADE EYE WITH WILL BE YOUR PARTNER FOR THE NEXT FOUR YEARS!"

"What?!" Izuku and Ruby both yelled out. Though they did not make their concerns known, most other students were put off by this announcement, with Shoto, Yang, and Jaune being surprised, and Katsuki becoming even angrier.

"WHEN YOU GET YOUR PARTNER, SIMPLY GET YOUR RELIC OUT TO PASS. YOU WILL ONLY PASS IF BOTH OF YOU MAKE IT OUT OF THE FOREST TOGETHER. BEFORE WE BEGIN, WOULD YOU LIKE TO ADD IN ANYTHING PROFESSOR OZPIN?"

"No, I'm quite alright, Hizashi. Are there any questions?"

"Yeah, um, sir?" Jaune asked as he raised his hand.

"Good! Now, take your positions." At Ozpin's cue, the students all readied themselves; crouching, preparing weapons, and suppressing any last minute nerves. Izuku looked around and followed suit, still slightly confused. Jaune, however, continued to raise his hand.

"Uh, sir? I've got, um... a question." As Jaune asked, a metallic clunk was heard from the far left side of the cliff. Izuku turned to see a student flying in the air, only to be followed by several other students, each being launched from the platform below them. Izuku gulped but did his best to maintain his composure, staring down at his feet with a look of nervous determination.

"So, this landing... strategy thing... Uh, wha-what is it? You're, like, dropping us off or something?" At this question, Present Mic had to stifle a small laugh, while another teacher with long black hair and a scarf simply sighed and shook his head.

"No. You will be falling." Ozpin deadpanned.

"Oh, uh, I see... So, like, did you hand out parachutes for us?" Jaune asked, the sound of launching students still echoing in the background.

"No. You will be using your own landing strategy." By this point, Weiss, Tenya, Pyrrha, and the black bowed girl had already taken to the skies. Bakugo was the next to launch, giving off a sinister laugh as he flew through the air.

"Uh-huh... yeah, o-ok."

Yang gave a quick wink to Ruby before putting on a pair of aviators and flying off with a cheer, only for Ruby to follow after her.

"So, what exactly is a landing strategYYYYYYYY" Before he got an answer, Jaune was sent flying into the air.

"I'll see you at the finish then," Shoto said with a quick glance to his right.

"O-Oh, y-yeah." after Izuku's response, it was Shoto's turn to be flung off. Izuku now alone, took one last look at the teachers in front of him. His gaze eventually settled onto Ozpin who gave a smug grin to Izuku before taking a sip from his coffee mug. Before Izuku had any time to register this, he was instantly fired into the sky.

"AAAHHHHHHHHH!" Was the closest thing to a coherent thought he had as he was flung into the air. The force of the breeze against his face was enormous, his skin felt like it was about to be ripped off the rest of his body. Izuku flailed wildly before he eventually became stable as he reached the height of his arc.

' _Okokokokok don't panic! You're just, like, a hundred feet off the ground... traveling faster than you've ever gone in your entire life… with no real plan of getting down…... OH GODS I'M DEAD! Gotta think of something fast!'_ Izuku frantically ran through as many thoughts in his head as he could, trying to remember something from his many, many notebooks which might help him.

' _Should I use One For All? No, I have no clue what would happen. Besides, Semblances don't automatically unlock when you get your aura, so I might not even be able to use it at all! I'll have to rely on my weapons then… got it!'_

Izuku quickly reached into his belt and grabbed Fire Dust disks from his belt, luckily not dropping any, and loaded them into his Peacekeepers. Pressing the button on each gauntlet, he felt a slight heat build up his hands as his weapons were coated in a layer of Fire Dust Scales.

He reared his hands back and prepared himself as he began to approach the ground below him at rapid speeds. As he closed in on the ground he began to punch at the ground, the scales on his knuckles launching themselves out, exploding once they impacted the ground below him. The impact from these explosions was enough to cushion his fall a bit, but he still felt a bit of an impact was a tuck and rolled onto the ground, his Aura managing to absorb most of the impact.

"Phew, made it onto the ground. Now, which way is North?"

*Crack* Izuku turned around, only now realizing how much heat had built up behind him. The explosions from his Fire Dusk had turned the ground behind him pitch black, with small patches of fire forming, producing a foul-smelling smoke. Though most of the fire was contained to the ground, some of the trees had begun to catch fire, their branches cracking as they fell to the ground.

"I should probably put that out!" Izuku said as he began loading Ice Dusk into his Peacekeepers.

* * *

 _Elsewhere…_

*THUD*

' _GottaFindYangGottaFindYangGottaFindYang.'_ Were Ruby Rose's first thoughts as she hit the ground of the Emerald Forest. Without missing a beat, she began to sprint forward, her head on a swivel as she began shouting out for her sister.

"YANG! YAANGG!" ' _Oh, this is bad, this is reeeeally bad! What if I can't find her? Or what if she finds someone else first? Who else would I even partner up with? There's always Jaune. He's nice. He seems pretty funny too! I'm not sure he'd be all that good in a fight though. I could go with Izuku. We've already fought before so that's good! His shyness might be a problem. There's also Shoto. If he's actually a Todoroki he should be really strong. Could I even hold a conversation with him one on one though? There's the girl with the bow from yesterday. I haven't even gotten a chance to talk to her though. Alright, who else… there's Jaune, Izuku, Shoto, Bow Girl, aaaaaand'_

A blur of white caught Ruby's eye she instantly began skidding to a halt. As her momentum slowly carried her to a stop, she turned her head up from the ground to see…

Weiss Schnee. The girl whose luggage she nearly fell into less than 24 hours ago. The girl who came from one of the richest families in Remnant. The girl who was now looking her directly in the eyes. Making them partners. The silence between the two of them was deafening.

' _Well, she isn't yelling at me, so maybe things won't be so bad.'_ Ruby thought as a small smile began to form on her face…

Only for Weiss to turn on her heel and walk in the exact opposite direction. Ruby took a couple of steps after the heiress.

"Wait! Where are you going?" Ruby stopped following as those words exited her mouth, only for her to look down dejectedly and kick the ground in front of her. "We're supposed to be partners…"

' _Partners? No, absolutely not. Weiss Schnee's partner cannot be someone so incompetent.'_ Weiss thought as she began putting distance between herself and the girl behind her. ' _I can't be. There's no way we could ever be partners. She doesn't even look like she's old enough to be attending Beacon! I cannot have a child for a partner! My partner must be absolutely perfect. Intelligent. Strong. Brave. Competent. I'll just go find someone else to be my partner, and she can go do the same. There must be someone nearby who's worthy enough to be-'_

"Ugh, common, stupid," Weiss' vain train of thought was interrupted as she heard a familiar voice coming from… above her? Weiss turned her attention to the tree above her, only to see Jaune Arc hanging from the tree. A spear had impaled Jaune's hood to the tree, a spear which Weiss instantly recognized as Pyrrha's. Jaune looked down as he realized he was no longer alone.

"Ah, h-hey Weiss. Nice to see you again. Would you mind help me-" Weiss drowned out the words of the blonde above her.

' _He'd be a better partner than her, right? Right? …. Ugh! Fine!'_ Weiss turned and walked back the way she came from, ignoring the groan from Jaune. Once she returned to Ruby she grabbed her by the hood and began pulling her in the direction she assumed to be north.

"By no means does this make us friends."

"You came back!" Ruby cheered as she pumped her fists into the air.

* * *

 _Elsewhere…_

As Shoto walked through the Emerald Forest, he couldn't help but be occupied mentally by the situation he was in. Was it over the task before him? No. Shoto had no doubt that his training and strength would carry him through the Initiation, especially after Present Mic had announced that most high-level Grimm had been cleared out.

No, his thoughts were more focused on the people he was walking with now.

"So, how much farther do you guys think it is?" Yang asked.

"The forest looked pretty big. I'd guess we're around a fourth of the way there."

"I believe you may be right on that matter, Miss Belladonna. The Emerald Forest may be large, but its terrain is not terribly varied. Given the sun's position, I'd say it's about noon right now. Given this pace, we should be able to make it to the Relics well before the Initiation concludes."

"Awesome! Assuming we don't run into any major Grimm, this thing should be a _walk_ in the park." After several seconds of silence, Yang frowned at the lack of reaction to her pun.

Of his three compatriots, Yang gave Shoto the least to think about. From their interactions, brief as they may be, Shoto got the impression that Yang was not a pushover. The easiest way to tell this was through her Aura. He would obviously need to see it in action, along with her Semblance, but Shoto could feel that she had a lot more Aura than most everyone here. Plus, her positive attitude was a natural deterrent from Grimm. He had concluded that of everyone he'd seen at Beacon so far, she was likely the second best partner he could've gotten, second only to Pyrrha Nikos. Unfortunately for him, she was not his partner.

Yang's partner, Blake Belladonna, was an oddity. Shoto had a hard time figuring out anything about her from her actions. She was quiet, especially compared to her partner, and seem far more comfortable staying in the back of the group. Now, Shoto knew he wasn't the greatest with social situations, but he sure as hell knew how to figure out what kind of fighter a person was. The fact that he had trouble getting a read off of Blake was puzzling. Perhaps she was a stealth fighter? Regardless, it could wait.

The person who gave Shoto to most worries of the three was his partner, Tenya Iida. This wasn't because he thought he was incompetent, far from it. The Iidas were a family of well-respected Hunters from Atlas, all working under the name of Ingenium. What worried him was that he was the one who yelled at the Shoto and his friends the night before. When the two of them had made eye contact, Shoto felt a slight sense of nervousness from Tenya. Shoto assumed this was since Tenya saw him as being, for a lack of a better term, a delinquent the night before. This nervousness was only amplified when the two had met up with Blake and Yang and had agreed to travel together, seeing as Yang was also a part of the argument from the night before. If Tenya's nerves continued to build up, it could cause problems. Grimm problems.

However, Shoto himself was worried too. Mostly over the people he _wasn't_ walking with now.

Ruby, Izuku, and Jaune.

Namely, why they hadn't seen them. The three of them had been standing right next to Shoto and Yang, so why hadn't they run into them. Shoto doubted the platforms would've been set to launch the students different distances. This meant either they were lost, or they were-

No. Shoto doubted they were dead. Izuku and Ruby had managed to stop a robbery together, so they should be fine, and if Jaune ran into one of them, he should be fine as well.

' _I'm sure they're doing alright.'_

* * *

 _Elsewhere…_

Izuku had no idea how things had gone south so fast. The day had been pretty good so far, all things considered. He'd woken up on time, his equipment had been good to go, and he'd gotten to do spend time with his new friends. Heck, he'd even managed to make an impromptu landing with no major industries. Sure, he caused a small forest fire, but he put it out pretty quickly.

However, as he made his way through the Emerald Forest, going fast so he could catch up to where he assumed the others would be. And when he did run into someone else, he was met with a pair of fiery red eyes. Eyes he was very familiar with.

"What the fuck were you thinking, Deku!" Katsuki Bakugo yelled as he smalled Izuku into a large tree with a death grip on Izuku's collar, his other hand forming a small explosion. "A Severed loser like you becoming a Hunter, give me a fucking break! I was supposed to be the only person from that damn school to get into Beacon! But then you had the guts to apply here, and then you just come and find me! Are you fucking trying to sabotage me becoming a Hunter? I told you not to fucking apply, that you'd just die in Initiation! Don't you dare think just because you found me that we're-"

"K-Kacchan." Katsuki was surprised that Izuku even had the courage to speak as he placed his hands on Katsuki's arm. "S-Someone I look up to… told me… that I _could_ become a Hunter," As Izuku spoke Katsuki felt the pressure on his arm increase. He turned his attention to Izuku's hands, only to see a green glow shining around them.

' _Aura?'_

"That's why I applied to Beacon. Why I'm going to become a Hunter." Izuku looked up at Katskui with a look of determination in his eyes. "Like it or not, I'll be a Hunter, and you can't stop me!" Katsuki looked at Izuku with anger and shock, not believing what he'd just seen. He let go of Izuku and turned around, taking a few steps away, while Izuku recomposed himself, wiping away the sweat from his face, and preparing for whatever was about to happen. Katsuki stood there for was felt like an eternity, his head pointed at the ground. The only thing which broke the silence was the ambient sounds of the forest surrounding them. Eventually, Katsuki took a deep breath and closed his fists.

"Just so we're clear," Izuku was taken aback by the calmness in Kastuki's voice. It was as grumbly and angry as ever, but it was a far cry from the yelling just seconds before. "The only reason I'm letting you follow me is because that loudmouthed bastard on the cliff said both partners have to make it out alive." Izuku was even more surprised at this, realizing that Katsuki wasn't about to abandon him.

"I don't know how if you just got that Aura or if you've been hiding it this whole damn time," Katsuki turned his head over his shoulder, giving Izuku a cold glare which sent shivers down his spine, "But don't think this changes the fact that you're still nothing more than a pebble. And don't think for one fucking second I'm gonna let you slow me down" Katsuki then turned his head back around and began walking forward.

"North is this way." Izuku blinked at Katsuki's words before silently trailing a couple of meters behind his former childhood friend.

' _This doesn't change anything. I'm still gonna become the Number One Hunter in all of Remnant.'_ As Katsuki thought to himself, he couldn't help but remember the event of a day from almost a year ago. He remembered the monster towering before him.

" _GET AWAY FROM ME!"_ He remembered his explosions being useless against it. He remembered being truly afraid. He remembered…

" _I couldn't just stand there and watch you die, Kacchan!"_ Katsuki narrowed his eyes as he continued his march forward.

' _I'm not some weakling like you. I won't ever be that weak again. I'll never need your help, Deku.'_

All the while Izuku tried to be as quiet as possible as he followed Katsuki. Despite the fact that Izuku had just gotten the best possible outcome to occur, he couldn't help but feel a tinge of sadness, knowing this would likely be the situation he'd be stuck with for the next four years.

* * *

 **A/N**

 **And that's Chapter Four. Hopefully you guys enjoyed it.**

 **Chapter Commentary:**

 **-Like I said at the end of the last chapter, this Chapter was a shorter one. I did this for a couple of reasons. 1) I don't know exactly how long the second half of the Initiation Arc will be, and I didn't want it to be one super long chapter. 2) I felt like it made sense to have a small break in the Arc, especially given how I plan the final fight to go down, and what Deku and Bakugo's place in it will be. 3) I wanted to be able to get something out to you guys.**

 **-In case you missed it Jaune had Aura before starting the Initiation. It was kind of ridiculous for him not to know about Aura in the actual show, but it is understandable, as they needed a way to introduce it to the audience. However, if he still didn't have it before Initiation in this fic, it would invalidate Izuku's lack of Aura being a problem. Therefore, Jaune starts off with Aura in this fic. He still doesn't have his semblance though.**

 **-I wish I could've gotten Nora and Ren some screentime in this chapter. Their dynamic is one of my favorites in the show, and I like how their character arcs went during Volume 4 (Kuroyuri is one of the show's best episodes in my opinion). However, I didn't want to force them in in a way that felt unnatural, and would rather establish the dynamics of the main characters before the supporting characters.**

 **-I'm not super satisfied with the bit with Shoto's inner thoughts, but I wanted to establish that he and Tenya had partnered up. I don't think it's worth cutting though, as it does establish Shoto's initial views on the other students, which would be difficult to do otherwise, given how naturally quiet he is. If I ever edit this chapter down the line, it will probably get a tune-up.**

 **Reviews:**

 **1jesus- Happy you're still enjoying it!**

 **MarvelNinja10- Gald you like it. I do agree that Izuku and Ruby is a pretty good ship as well.**

 **Mind - Looking back, I might have made it seem like Weiss is warming up too fast. I don't plan on it happening that fast though.**

 **bigbrad27- Yeah, Bakugo's a bit of an asshole in early MHA. That said, he's definitely one of the show's best-written characters, and I hope to do him justice.**

 **Housekeeping:**

 **Next chapter will be about the same length, maybe a little bit longer. I've had the set up for this Arc's final fight in my head for a while now. Hopefully I'll be able to make it all work and be enjoyable.**

 **See you guys next time!**


	5. What We Can Do For Now

**Remember what I said this chapter would be about the same length as the last one (~6,000 Words). Might want to double that number. Let's go! Also there might be a lot of spelling mistakes I missed. Sorry if there are any.**

 **I do not own RWBY nor My Hero Academia all rights belong to Monty Oum and Kohei Horikoshi and their respective publishing companies.**

 **I do not own the cover image.**

 **Chapter 5: What We Can Do For Now**

* * *

 _Initiation Day, 3:30 P.M. Emerald Forest_

"Hey, Weiss… are you suuuure we're going the right way?"

"Of course we are! North is absolutely this way… I mean this way! North is definitely _this_ way!"

"..."

"It's official! We've passed it!"

Ruby and Weiss' journey through the Emerald Forest had encountered quite a few "hiccups". The personality clash was among the biggest problems, as Ruby's odd combination of energy and awkwardness, along with Weiss' cold exterior, lead to any small talk being brief and uncomfortable.

They also had troubles combat-wise, as Weiss' calm and technical approach to combat clashed with Ruby's fast-paced blitz style of fighting. When the two had encountered a pack of Beowolves, the pair's inability to sync up in combat caused Weiss to accidentally set the forest on fire. Ruby had managed to speed away from the pack with Weiss in tow, but the heiress didn't hesitate to scold her junior on "sneaking" her way into Beacon as a "child". And now…

"Weiss, why can't you just admit that you have no idea where we're going?" Ruby had been following Weiss for around half an hour, the latter refusing to admit that she was completely lost.

"I won't admit it because I know _exactly_ where we're going! We're going… to… to the forest temple!" Ruby sighed in frustration, kicking the ground in front of her. Weiss turned on her heel and stared down Ruby. "Oh, stop it! You don't know where we are, either!"

"Well, at least I'm not pretending like I know everything."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Weiss asked in an angered voice, crossing her arms in front of her.

"It means you're a big, stupid jerk and I hate you!" Ruby said as she pointed directly at Weiss.

"How mature," Weiss stated in a sarcastic tone before turning back around, "Just keep moving!" Ruby, done following Weiss orders, began it imitate her voice, causing the heiress on clench her fists in anger.

"Oh, just keep moving! Hurry up! Waaaah! Watch where you're going! Why are you so bossy?" Ruby asked, returning to her normal tone for the end of her statement. Weiss turned back around yet again.

"I'm _not_ bossy! Don't say things like that!"

"Stop treating me like a kid!"

"Stop acting like a kid!"

"Well stop acting like you're perfect!

"I may not be perfect but I'm still leagues better than you!"

 ***Crunch***

The partners stopped their argument and turned to the sight of the sound, only to see a jet black bird feather had made a crunching noise as is settled to the grass on the forest floor. How did a bird feather make a crunching sound so loud it could interrupt the two of them?

Because this singular bird feather, if held perpendicularly to the ground, was about two thirds the girl's height.

The two looked up above them through the trees and saw the creature which the feather belonged to. The creature was massive, resembling a mixture of a condor and a raven. It had a white bone-mask over his face with a dorsal spine towards the back of its mask, and four red eyes poking through. It had three white claws on each of its feet, along with two claws extending out of its wings.

"I-Is th-that a…"

"Nevermore…" Weiss finished.

"Come on, let's get somewhere where it won't be able to see us!" Ruby said, turning and running deeper into the forest.

"Don't run off without me!" Weiss yelled as she ran to catch up. "You don't even know where we're going!"

"Do you?"

"Shut up!"

* * *

 _Initiation Day, 4:30 P.M., Emerald Forest_

Four hours. That was how long Katsuki and Izuku had been walking with one another. For that entire time, that hadn't spoken to one another. Izuku had kept his distance, remaining about five yards behind Katsuki at all times. His gaze shifted periodically from the ground in front of him, to the Emerald Forest which surrounded him and his partner, to the back of Katsuki's head.

If Izuku had to describe how he felt after being partnered with Katsuki, melancholic would've been the first thing to come to mind. He'd spent most of the walk reflecting on his relationship with Katsuki. It wasn't very difficult, after all, this wasn't the first time they'd walked in the woods together.

" _Wow, you're so lucky! Your Semblance is amazing, Kacchan! When I unlock my Aura, I hope mine will be just as cool!"_

" _Whatever, Deku. Whatever Semblance you get, it'll never be as good as mine."_

The two were much younger, of course, but Izuku had no trouble remembering it. Even though Katsuki had started to show the signs of his trademark pride by this point, Izuku remembered just how much fun the two of them had as little kids.

' _I wish I knew where things went wrong between us. Who knows, maybe now that we're partners we might be able to patch things up.'_ Izuku thought, a slight smile forming on his face as he did so. ' _Either way, it's not gonna do any good focusing on that now. Kacchan might not let me die right now, but that doesn't mean he's gonna be helping me out the entire time. I'm gonna need to focus on what All Might taught me, and use that to help us pass.'_

* * *

 _Two Weeks Earlier, 6:20 A.M., Dagoba Lake_

" **Feeling any different, Young Midoriya?"** All Might asked, towering over his protege.

"No, not yet," Izuku asked, sitting down on a small pile of garbage, trying not the think about the fact that he just had to swallow All Might's hair. "Please don't tell me I'm gonna have to do that again."

" **HAHAHA! Fear not! If I recall right, it took me a bit of time for my Aura to manifest when I first inherited One For All."**

' _Oh thank the gods…'_ Izuku thought to himself. "That's good. So once my Aura unlocks, what will we do fi-" Before Izuku could finish his question, Izuku felt a strange feeling from within his heart. He quickly stood up and placed his hand on his chest.

" **Is everything alright, Young Midoriya?"**

"I-I don't know! I j-just f-feel weird all of a sudden!" Before All Might could respond, an emerald green glow began to emerge around Izuku, starting from his chest before eventually spreading over his entire body. Izuku looked on in bewilderment, inspecting his hands his ample curiosity.

" **How do you feel?"** All Might asked, his smile growing as he spoke.

"I-It… well… it feels like I'm... surrounded… surrounded by this warm liquid. It almost feels like another layer of skin just got put over my entire body. I feel… great!"

" **Hmmm… not exactly how I'd describe it, but that makes sense, seeing as each person's Aura is unique."**

"W-Wait! S-So, this is...my…"

" **Correct, Young Midoriya. That feeling right now… that's** _ **your**_ **Aura."** Izuku felt tears build up in his eyes, but was too shocked to do anything about it. After all the months of training, his effort finally felt rewarded. Years of longing for his goal, years of having his dreams put down, all of it culminating together to this day. And now... he had Aura. _His_ Aura. And it was his alone. " **I'll let the waterworks slide just this once, young man. You've earned this."** Izuku looked up an All Might with a dopey grin on his face, eventually wiping the tears from his face.

" **Now listen closely. I know exactly how it feels to have your Aura unlocked, but remember, this newfound strength is** _ **not**_ **invincibility! Aura can do a great many things. It enhances our body's natural abilities and senses. It can be channeled into weapons to make them stronger. And it can act as a shield which allows us to absorb damage. However, don't think you'll suddenly be strong enough and fast enough to take on any opponent who stands in your way. You also need to understand that you** _ **can**_ **take damage through your Aura if it's with a strong enough attack."**

"Right," Izuku said, nodding along with his mentor's explanation.

" **As I mentioned earlier, you won't be able to use One For All right off the bat. Even if you were able to unlock it today, the kickbacks would be too much to deal with without proper medical care. We can focus on Semblance training once you pass the Initiation. For now, we'll focus on being able to activate your Aura quickly, as well as train in hand to hand combat. Now then, let's get started!"**

* * *

 _Present Day_

' _So long as I remember All Might's words I should be fine. My biggest problem will likely be working with Kacchan.'_

Katsuki was just as trapped in his own thoughts as Izuku was. Though his thoughts were not lingering on the same day…

* * *

 _~13 Years Ago, 2:00 P.M., Aldera Woods_

"Forward March Team KTKI!" A four-year-old Katsuki chanted as he was followed by four of his friends. The self-appointed leader of Team KTKI (Katsuki) had decided his "team" would go on a mission into the local woods that day. His team was accompanied by a young Izuku, who, after saying that Hunter Teams had to be named after colors, was not allowed on the team, and was instead playing the part of a villager who would help Team KTKI find some "Grimm" to slay.

As the group traveled over a fallen tree trunk which created a path over a small creek, Katsuki lost his footing and fell into the creek below.

"Kacchan!" "Hey! Are you alright?!" Two of Katsuki's "teammates" called down into the creek below.

"Nah, he's fine!" Katsuki's Bat-Faunus "teammate" stated. "Kacchan's super tough. See!" At the young Faunus' words, Katsuki brought himself up from the creek, soaked in water, but otherwise unharmed. "Hurry and get back up here Kacchan! We've gotta go hunt down some Grimm!"

"'Kay! Just a second!" Katsuki called out, smiling up at his friends.

*SPLISH*SPLASH*

Katsuki turned his attention to the side of the creek, only to see…

"Are you okay? Did you get hurt?" Only to see the outstretched hand of Izuku Midoriya, who had made his way down into the creek, and was now only a couple steps from Katsuki. The young blonde's initial look of surprise now shifted to one of anger. "I was really worried you hit your head when you fell!" Katsuki's look only became more rage-filled. Not only at the words and action his the boy in front of him, but especially at his face. A face filled with worry and concern. A face not so different to one he would see over a decade later as he ran with Katsuki away from a massive Ursa Major.

* * *

 _Present Day_

' _I was just fine that day,'_ Katsuki thought as he made his way through the Emerald Forest, doing his best to ignore the footsteps of Izuku behind him. ' _I was just fine on my own! I didn't need your help that day, or when the village got attacked! And I sure as hell don't need that look of pity!'_

" _I couldn't just stand there and watch you die Kacchan!"_

' _I'm not some pebble like you are! I'm better than you'll ever be, Deku!'_

Unfortunately, since the two young men were trapped in thought, they didn't notice the rustling in the treetops above them until the once small noise had become nearly deafening and completely surrounded them. Izuku was the first to notice. Instantly stopping in his tracks and looking at the trees above him. After only a second of looking, he saw a quick black streak flash between the branches above him.

 **(Cue- The Heat of the Day- Pat Metheny)**

"Kacchan, wait! Something's here!"

"What the fuck do you want now De-" Before Katsuki could finish, he too stopped as he heard the noise. Without saying a word, Izuku loaded Electrical Dust into Peacekeepers, and Katsuki's green gauntlets puffed up in size, with a grey metal extension coming out off them, causing his green and red weapons to resemble hand grenades. Katsuki was sure that no matter what came his way, his Explosive Emperors would blow them right to hell.

After several seconds of the two looking above them, three black masses jumped down at various angles, all converging on Katsuki. When Izuku turned to him, he saw three identical creatures. Each one was around four-feet tall and had thick black fur with white bone-like armor covering the chest and their head.

"Get the fuck off me!" Katsuki yelled, firing off an explosion at the creatures, which was difficult to do, as they were already right on top of him. Before either of them had time to form a plan, two more of the creatures jumped down from the trees, each of them grabbing hold of Katsuki's right gauntlet, yanking it off his arm. As if on cue, all five of them jumped away and back onto the lower branches of the nearby trees.

"GIVE THAT BACK, YOU BASTARDS!" Katsuki yelled, causing the Grimm holding his gauntlet to yell back at him, bearing a nasty set of fangs and red eyes. As he and Kizuku looked above them, they saw more of the beasts had joined their brothers, numbering at least two dozen.

"Those are Satori!" Izuku yelled out. "Kacchan, be careful! If you don't hold back on your explosions, you might set the forest on fire."

"Don't tell me what to do, Deku!" Katsuki yelled, launching himself at the Satori with his gauntlet. The small Grimm yet out a yelp of fear, jumping away to another branch. Katsuki was too quick, using another explosion to readjust his trajectory toward the Satori. The Grimm quickly threw the gauntlet up into the air, only for another one to jump and grab it. Katsuki used an explosion to kill the original Satori mid-air but snarled as he redirected his attention to the one which now held his gauntlet.

"Get back here, dammit!" Katsuki yelled as he landed on a large branch. The Satoris all yelled as they began moving away from the two Hunter hopefuls. Before Izuku could get anything in edgewise, Katsuki had launched himself after the Grimm yet again, leaving Izuku to run on the forest floor, trying to catch up.

' _This is bad. Not only do we have to worry about not creating a fire with Kacchan Semblance, but if he follows them blindly, there's no telling how far off course the Satoris might lead us. Fortunately, Kacchan won't need to use a big explosion to kill them. They travel in groups because they're not strong on their own. I feel like I'm not remembering something though. Ugh, I knew I should've studied by notes on Grimm during breakfast! We'll just have to get this done with fast and get back on course!'_

Izuku reeled back his fist and launched an Electric Dust Scale forward, hitting one of the Satori in the back, causing it to fall from the trees to the ground, spasming violently with electricity before disappearing into a puff of black smoke. "Gotcha!" Izuku yelled. He turned his attention to his next target; the Satori holding Katsuki's gauntlet. He brought back his other fist and launched another Electrical Dust Scale…

Just as Katsuki launched himself at the same target. "Kacchan look out!" Izuku yelled. Katsuki barely had time to react, turning and using an explosion from his palm to counter the scale, causing a puff of explosive, smoke, and static. Katsuki, being thrown off, was forced to drop to a knee on the ground and reorient himself. "Kacchan are you ok?" Izuku asked, having stopped right next to Katsuki. "Sorry! I should've been keeping a closer eye on wh-"

"Outta my way!" Katsuki yelled as he fired off an explosion right in Izuku's face, launching him onto his back a few feet away. "If you can't even aim your fucking weapon then don't do anything at all you fucking nerd!" Katsuki quickly got up and began pursuing the Satoris yet again. Izuku quickly got up and followed his partner.

Katsuki had to use a larger explosion to catch up with the Satoris while Izuku had to kick his Aura into overdrive, feeling an increase in his physical strength as his strides became much longer. Katsuki's explosion brought him up with the Satori, taking out two of them with an explosion from each hand. He set his sights on the Satori which held his gauntlet, launching himself towards it. Again the Satori threw the gauntlet to one of its compatriots, followed by Katsuki grabbing it by the neck and exploding it right in his palm. Izuku, after weighing the risk versus reward and taking out a Satori and angering Katsuki, finally decided to launch his scales at the Satori yet again, this time targeting ones farther away from Katsuki. This process continued for some time, the two partners whittling away at the Satori's numbers from eighteen, to thirteen, to ten, to eight.

Eventually, the Satoris' game of keep away was put to a stop.

As one of the Satori threw the gauntlet and subsequently died to Katsuki's Semblance, Izuku launched a scale at the Satori attempting to catch it, causing it to fall and subsequently turn into smoke. Before the gauntlet could fall to the ground, Katsuki grabbed it midair, then returning to the forest floor. The remaining five Satoris turned back to look at the two Hunter hopefuls, only to turn and run off in the opposite direction.

 **(End Music)**

"Yeah, you fuckers better run!" Katsuki yelled, slipping his gauntlet back on.

"They kept that up for a long time. Did they have some sort of plan?" Izuku asked to himself, looking off in the direction the Satoris had gone.

"Doesn't fucking matter. Now that I've got my gauntlet back, I can get back to passing this fucking Initiation. And you can get back to being quiet, Deku. This way's North." Izuku frowned at his old friend's words, thinking for just a second that they had been acting as a team. Still, Izuku couldn't help but think about the Satoris.

' _They were really intent on taking Kacchan's gauntlet. I don't think they would've done that randomly. Lesser Grimm aren't known for taking trophies or anything… Wait, that's right! Satoris are supposed to be highly intelligent for Grimm. One of the tactics Hunters have recorded is that they take a person's belongings and lead them on a wild goose chase until they get baited into a preset trap, usually, one where there's a-'_

 ***BOOOOOM***

"a larger Grimm…" Izuku said his final thoughts around, all the color drained from his face.

"The fuck?" Katsuki muttered to himself, turning towards the direction of the large noise. The same direction the Satoris had run off to.

' _I've been feeling pretty down since Kacchan and I got partnered up, and I'm guessing he was even worse than me…'_ "With all that negativity…"

 ***BOOOOOOOOOOOM***

"The hell is that?" Katsuki's voice was now beginning to waver, the slightest hint of fear in his voice.

"Kacchan, we need to move, now!" Katsuki turned to Izuku for half a second, with the former's eyes containing a mixture of anger and fear. "The Satori are known for leading people towards much larger Grimm! If that's a Grimm out there, and it's able to make that much noise, we probably won't be strong enough to fight it!"

"Shut up you fucking nerd! I don't care what this thing it, I'll kill it all by mys-"

 ***BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM***

Katsuki and Izuku turned back to the source of the noise. As the two Hunter Hopefuls looked out into the forest, they saw the outline of a hulking figure. One which dwarfed the Ursa Major the two had seen ten months ago. When they saw it gigantic red eyes, they realized just how much danger they were in.

"Come on!" Izuku grabbed Katsuki's arm and began running at full speed North, with the monster behind them picking up its own pace.

* * *

 _Five Minutes earlier, Beacon Cliff_

"Would ya look at that! Those two are actually starting to work together!" Present Mic stated as he gazed at his tablet, displaying footage of Izuku and Katsuki chasing down Satori being taken from a small drone.

"Hardly. The blonde's focused on getting his gear back. The green one's just staying out of his way."

"Jeez, couldn't be positive even for a second, huh, Shota?" Present Mic wasn't wrong, Shoto Aizawa was seldom positive over anything.

Aizawa, also known as Eraser Head, looked like he had just rolled out of bed. He was a tall, slender, pale man with messy shoulder-length black hair, unkempt facial hair, and black eyes. His outfit was simple, with only a ragged black long sleeve shirt and pants, black boots, and a black and grey utility belt. The most defining part of his outfit was the grey scarf he wore at all times, his signature Binding Cloth.

"I'll be positive if I see them do something impressive. Besides, I'm much more concerned about _that_ thing." Aizawa changed his attention from his tablet to the forest before him, specifically, a black figure in the sky. Even though it was a couple of miles away from the cliff, it was impossible to miss. "Flying-type Grimm are the hardest for us to account for during Initiation since they can move into areas seemingly overnight. And we're dealing with one of the toughest ones out there."

"A Giant Nevermore." The Huntsmen turned around to see Ozpin, their boss, standing behind them, trademark coffee in one hand, tablet in another. Behind him stood Goodwitch, also with a tablet. "It appears our candidates will have their work cut out for them."

"Ha! Guess that's one way to put it!" Present Mic said with a laugh before turning back to the forest, a look of concern in his eyes. "Seriously though, you sure we shouldn't intervene. I know its a last resort, but don't you think that may be a bit much for 'em?"

"Don't underestimate these children, Hizashi. They're far from pushovers." Ozpin responded.

"If they generate so much negativity on their first day that they can bring in a Grimm that dangerous it'll be safer to not let them into the school," Aizawa responded.

"True, but a Grimm that old will know not to invade a large group of people. Attacking Beacon would be out of the question for it." Ozpin said.

"Uhh, Sir." Ozpin turned around to see Glynda with her eyes fixated on her tablet. "We have another problem."

"What's the matter, Glynda?" Aizawa asked, a slight hint of concern in his voice.

"Izuku Midoriya and Katsuki Bakugo have encountered something big."

"And what might that be?" Ozpin asked, no concern being shown in his voice.

"Uh oh..." Hizashi said, his glasses nearly falling off his face as he stared at his tablet. As Ozpin glanced around, he noticed several other teachers had similar looks of concern on their faces, turning to each other and asking if they were seeing the same thing.

Ozpin turned to his tablet and selected the drone following the two young initiates. Both of them were in a dead sprint, their respective emerald green and dark crimson Auras visibly active, showing just how much energy they were using to increase their speed. Though Ozpin couldn't quite see what was chasing them, its shadow showed that it was clearly massive.

"We need to take that thing down before it kills them, Oz," Aizawa said, turning to Ozpin with a look of seriousness. Unfortunately for the scarf-wearing Huntsmen, Ozpin paid him no mind. "Oz?"

' _Hmmm… guess they'll have to Go Beyond for this one.'_

* * *

 _Elsewhere…_

I had been about an hour since Ruby and Weiss had spotted the Giant Nevermore. Since then, they'd stuck to staying as hidden as possible, only crossing through open areas when absolutely necessary, and when the avian Grimm was a good distance away. Unfortunately, they hadn't been able to shake the beast off. Though the Grimm was unable to get its eyes on them, its negativity was able to alert them to their general location.

The two partners had just crossed through an especially large clearing, and were taking a minute to catch their breath,

"How much longer until we reach the temple?" Ruby asked with a groan.

"I don't know. If I had I minute, I could've easily figured out where to go and how long it would take us to get there. But that thing just won't leave us alone." Weiss responded while looking up at the Nevermore.

' _Yeah, cause you knew exactly where we were going before that thing showed up…'_ Ruby thought to herself with a sigh. "Come on, if we pick up the pace it might have a harder time-"

 ***BOOOM*BOOOOOOM*BOOOOOOOOOOM***

Both girls turned their attention behind them, hearing a series of thunderous echos and… yelling? Thought the two girls were unable to make it out perfectly, there was most definitely yelling.

"Dammit, this thing won't fucking slow down!"

"I thought the teachers said they cleared out all the big Grimm!"

"Who is that?" Weiss asked, drawing her weapon, Myrtenaster.

"Wait a minute… I know that voice…" Ruby said, staring towards the sounds in deep thought. Before Weiss could ask who it was, Izuku and Katsuki came into view on the far side of the clearing, both in a dead sprint. "Izuku?"

"RUNRUNRUNRUNRUNRUN!" Izuku yelled as the two were about halfway through the clearing.

"What are you dolts doing? Haven't you noticed the Nevermore?"

"I've got bigger problems than a bird, Ice Queen!"

"What did you just call me?"

"JUST RUN!" Izuku yelled as he and Katsuki passed Ruby and Weiss. Before the two had time to debate…

 ***BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM***

The girls turned to see what the boys were running from, causing Weiss to be paralyzed in fear, only saved by Ruby, who used her Semblance to quickly grab Weiss and sprint up next to Izuku and Katsuki. Ruby set Weiss down, who quickly used her Aura and Semblance to boost her speed and keep with her fellow Initiates.

"How did you guys even find that thing?!" Ruby yelled.

"It'sareallylongstory!" Izuku yelled.

"Just shut up and run, brat!" Katsuki yelled, the sound of trees falling behind them leaving no doubts that their pursuer was still on their tails.

* * *

 _Initiation Day, 5:00 P.M., Abandoned Temple_

After several hours of walking, Shoto, Tenya, Yang, and Blake had finally found the Emerald Forest's Abandoned Temple.

"This it?" Yang asked looking to her fellow Initiates.

"This is about as far North as we can go. I doubt it could be anything else." Shoto responded.

"Unless this is some sort of trick." Yang retorted.

"To think our potential teachers may wish to deceive us… I suppose it would help ensure only the best of the best passed, but to engage in such an underhanded method would be so unbecoming." Tenya said, hand on his chin in deep thought.

"Let's not overthink things," Blake said before leading the walk down into the temple.

The Abandoned Temple was located in a large clearing, with its structure comprised of dark grey stones and was cylindrical in shape. It was clear that it was once a complete building, but, over time, half of the temple's outer wall had fallen. Pillars held up a large circular frame above a circular floor. Many smaller platforms were placed around the inside of the temple, each one holding…

"Chess pieces?" Blake asked, looking down at a Black King piece.

"Some of the pieces are missing. Guess we didn't get first place." Yang said.

"I don't recall it being a race…" Shoto said with a look of confusion.

"Awww, lighten up and have some fun, Shoto. Hey Blake, let's take this cute little pony!" Yang said, holding a white knight piece in his hand.

"Sure," Blake said while rolling her eye, a small smirk on her face.

"Shoto, any objections to this one?" Tenya said, holding up a White Bishop piece.

"None at all."

"Man, this was easier than I thought. We only encountered like, what, two packs of Beowolves?" Yang asked with a smirk.

"I imagine the Grimm would rather pick off stragglers than attack a group. Regardless, we shouldn't complain about it." Tenya said.

"Well yeah, passing Initiation's great and all, I just imagined thinks would be a bit more… exciting."

"YEEEEEEHAAAAAAW!" All for teens turned to the eastern edge of the clearing, hearing the crashing of trees and branches. Wordlessly, all four of them readied their weapons, preparing for whatever emerged from the forest. Before a proper plan could be made, an Ursa Minor burst out of the treeline, wildly swinging at the air in front of it. A large pink blast of energy emerged from behind it, causing the creature to fall forward. On its back stood… a girl. "Awww… it's broken." The girl then proceeded to hop off the Grimm and inspect its neck, only to pout as it evaporated into smoke.

The girl was fair skinned with short orange hair and turquoise eyes. She wore a collared black vest that ends at her waist. The girl's emblem, a hammer with a lightning bolt, was on its back. Under the vest were two layers of clothing, colored red and light-blue respectively. She also wore a white sleeveless top that formed a tiny heart shape cut out over her chest, with a white detached sleeve on each arm. She had matching fingerless gloves on each hand. She sported a short pink skirt that starts at the waist and ends mid-thigh. Her shoes were a mix of pink and white with pink laces, displaying her emblem on their soles. She also had armor that began in the middle of the shoulder and neck and ends by the waist.

"Nora! Please... Don't ever do that again." The four teens turned away from the girl to see that a young man had come out of the woods from the same direction as the Ursa, his hands on his knees as he panted, his magenta colored Aura working to rebuild his stamina.

The teen had long black hair tied into a ponytail that ended midway down his back with a magenta streak on the left side of his hair. His eyes matched the streak in his hair.

He wore a dark green, diagonally-buttoned, long-sleeved tailcoat that was red on the inside, with black and gold trimming and pink cuffs. The trimming went down the right side of his torso and formed a black collar. He wears a black, long-sleeved shirt beneath the suit and light-tan pants with black shoes.

"Sorry, Ren. I told ya to get on it with me." Nora lept over and grabbed Ren's arm. "Now come on, let's go grab a relic." Before the young man had a chance to react, he was dragged over to the temple.

"Well that did _not_ go as expected," Yang said, relaxing her stance.

"Excuse me! You two are fellow Initiates correct?" Tenya said, stepping forward and waving before reaching his hand out for a shake. "My name's Tenya Iida from Atlas' Soumei Acada-"

"Yep, nice to meet ya!" Nora yelled as she sprinted past Tenya, dragging Ren along the whole way, leaving the spectacled teen with a look of confusion. Nora stopped once she reached the stands for the relics inspecting several of them closely, eventually settling her gaze on a White Rook Piece before quickly grabbing it. "I'm Queen of the Castle! I'm Queen of the Castle!" Nora said in a singsong voice, only for Ren to drag her back to other teens.

"Sorry about that," Ren said as he dusted his pants off. "I'm Lie Ren, this is Nora Valkyrie," Ren said gesturing to his companion.

"D-Don't worry about it," Yang said, slightly put off by Nora's energy which somehow surpassed her sister's. "I'm Yang Xiao Long. This is Blake Belladonna and Shoto Todoroki. And I think at least one of you got introduced to Tenya over here."

"Pleasure," Ren said with a bow. "I assume you four just arrived as well."

"Indeed!" Tenya responded with a stiff motion of his hand. "We were just about to head out to the Western end of the forest. If you'd like, the six of us could travel together and make our way out."

"Sounds good," Ren responded.

"Hey, Yang! Shoto! That you?" The six of them turned to the southeastern edge of the clearing to see a blonde boy and a red-haired girl.

"Oh, hey Jaune!" Yang yelled out, waving her hand towards Jaune and his partner, Pyrrha Nikos. "Glad to see you two made it here!"

"This is the temple, correct?" Pyrrha asked.

"Yeah, this is it," Shoto responded. Pyrrha nodded and walked over to grab a relic, a White Rook to be exact, giving Jaune a chance to talk with Yang and Shoto. "How was your journey?"

"Well, we ended up finding a Deathstalker inside a cave and barely managed to shake it off. So yeah, it was pretty good." Jaune responded as he began to catch his breath.

"Jeez, we only ran into some Beowolves along the way! Guess you guys drew the short straw, huh?" Yang said.

"Yeah," Jaune said with a sigh, "Just my luck."

"Yang," the blonde girl turned to her partner who was pointing at the cliff to the West, "If we have the relic, then we should head up the cliff."

"Agreed!" Tenya said as he began walking Westward, White Bishop in hand, "We've almost completed our task. Delaying at this point would serve no purpose."

"Hey, where are Ruby and Izuku?" Jaune asked as he looked around for the Christmas themed pair.

"We haven't seen them at all," Shoto said.

"We were all standing close by so they probably got paired up together. With how fast Ruby is, I wouldn't be surprised if she was the first one here." Yang responded with a shrug.

"If that's the case, we should go join them on the cl-"

 ***BOOOM***

Shoto was cut short by the sound of something falling just South of them. "W-What was that?" Jaune asked as began to feel his hands shake with fear.

"That Deathstalker maybe?" Yang asked.

"No," Pyrrha responded from behind, "It was loud but not _that_ loud."

 ***BOOOOOM***

"You three, move back!" Tenya called as he drew his weapon, Legacy, a claymore/heavy pistol combo with a silver blade, gold guard and pommel, and a blue grip. Shoto, Yang, and Jaune quickly complied, the three moving back towards the rest of the group. All eight of them lined themselves up, Blake, Tenya, Yang, Pyrrha, Ren, and Nora all preparing to fire at whatever came their way. Jaune raised up his shield to protect himself.

 ***BOOOOOOOOOOM***

Shoto reached into his belt and grabbed an Ice Dust Crystal. He crushed the crystal in his right hand, feeling a familiar cold sensation envelope the right side of his body. As he returned his right hand to Frostfire, the ornate designs carved into the blade began to glow an icy blue. No matter what came out from the woods, Shoto would be sure to freeze it in its tracks.

 ***BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM***

"AHHHHHHH!"

"Is that a person?" Blake asked, slightly lowering her weapon.

"I don't know, just keep your guard up," Shoto said, the ground beneath his foot beginning to slightly freeze over.

"WHY WON'T THIS THING JUST GO AWAY!"

"Wait a minute…" Yang said, lowering her hands as she attempted to listen to the voices yelling. "Ruby?" Right on cue, Ruby, Izuku, Weiss, and Katsuki all burst into the clearing, all looking exhausted from their sprinting.

"Izuku!" "Ruby!" Jaune and Yang respectively yelled.

"What happened?" Shoto asked.

"Get back!" Izuku yelled as all four teens continued to run away from the forest.

 ***BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM***

When it burst out into the clearing, the first eight teens to arrive had to crane then necks up to get a full view of it. The monster was at least six times higher than any of them, and that was just when it was on all fours. The ape-like beast had thick, spiky bone-armor covering its chest, back, legs, arms, and it's head, with cuts and scrapes being visible along its body. Its jaw had an underbite, showing its large fangs. Its hands were almost as big as a person, and its piercing red eyes were about the size of a person's torso. Some of the students there had heard of the lesser form of this Grimm, but this one, through decades, if not centuries, of aging and combat far surpassed its younger counterparts in power.

This was a Silverback Beringel.

The monster stopped in its tracks, looking around at the now twelve targets it would have to deal with. If this dramatic increase in opponents intimidated the monster, it didn't show it.

"Get back!" Shoto yelled, swinging Frostfire upwards and generating a giant wave of ice towards the Beringel. Though this caught the beast off guard, it quickly brought its fist down, smashing the ice into pieces.

"Spread out!" Pyrrha yelled as the twelve Initiates all ran and spread out throughout the clearing. The Beringel looked around as it tried to pick out a target, eventually taking to the air and leaping at Jaune. The blonde tried to run, but it was clear he wasn't fast enough to avoid being crushed. Before he could meet a premature end, Tenya quickly moved, grabbing Jaune and barely dragging him out of the way.

Before the Grimm could follow up on its leap, Nora, Ren, and Pyrrha began taking fire at the Beringel, planting more than a dozen bullets and grenades into its back. Though the shots did little damage, it gave Tenya and Jaune enough time to move out of the Beringel's immediate vicinity. The Beringel was again caught off guard by Ruby, who, after positioning herself on top of the temple, managed to land a shot with Crescent Rose directly on the monster's eye.

This only made it angrier.

The Beringel plunged its right hand into the dirt, only to lift up a chunk of the ground when it pulled its hand up. Before Ruby could react, the Beringel threw the chunk of earth at her blinding speeds, the impact sending Ruby off the temple into the ground below.

"Ruby!" Unfortunately, all Yang could do was yell out for her sister, as she and Blake were on the other side of the clearing from her sister, and, more importantly, had the Beringel standing between them. Shoto launched another wave of ice at the Beringel, only for it to be shattered by a swat from the beast yet again.

Izuku quickly ran over to Ruby, already reaching for the small selection of medical supplies in his belt. "Ruby, are you okay?"

"Ughh…" Ruby slowly used her arms to push herself into a sitting position, her aura wavering slightly. "Y-Yeah, I-I think I'm good Izu- ow!" Ruby clutched the right side of her waist with her hand.

"Here, hold still." Izuku pulled out some bandages from his belt. "Can you move your hand?" Ruby slowly pulled her hand from her waist, only to reveal a sizable cut along her stomach. Izuku quickly got to work wrapping the injury with the bandages. All the while, he was beginning to get more worried. ' _Ruby should've had most of her Aura left. If this thing can tear through our Auras that fast, how are we supposed to win?'_

As the fight continued, Izuku's worries became more and more justified. Nora, Ren, and Pyrrha again began to fire at the Beringel, with Blake joining in, each shot being just as ineffective as the last. The Beringel was done letting them continue, as it began to charge towards the four at rapid speeds.

As it was halfway to the trio, the Beringel was attacked from the right and the left, as Yang and Katsuki used their weapon and Semblance, respectively, to launch themselves at the beast. Yang's punch landed square on its jaw, while Katsuki created an explosion point blank on its neck. The Beringel wasn't even staggered, as it quickly grabbed Yang by the arm and Katsuki by his leg, only to slam the two into each, then throw them into the ground, the impact making two small craters.

As the Beringel reared its fists up to slam them on the two teens, Shoto created a thick wall of ice, saving the two blondes, if only for a moment. As the two slowly returned to their feet, clearly staggered, the Beringel smashed a fist through the ice wall. Weiss used her Semblance to create a black Glyph, using it to pull Yang and Katsuki towards herself and Shoto, and, more importantly, away from the Beringel.

"My ice doesn't do anything against this thing!" Shoto yelled in frustration.

"This fucking bastard...:" Katsuki mumbled to himself. ' _I had more Aura I'd be able to create a bigger explosion and blow this thing straight to Hell.'_

"It must have a weak spot somewhere! We just need to find it!" Tenya yelled.

"We'll just have to stay mobile then," Yang said, slamming her fists together. The Beringel beat its hands on its chest and let out a monstrous roar, sending a message to teens in front of it.

It was done playing games.

After wrapping Ruby's waist up, Izuku helped the teen to her feet. "Can you stand?" Izuku asked.

"Y-Yeah, I'm good," Ruby responded, still holding her chest. As Izuku let go, he looked up to see the state of the fight in front of him, and he was almost paralyzed by it.

Blake, Yang, Katsuki, Tenya, Pyrrha, Ren, Nora, and Jaune were all running in circles around the beast, while Shoto and Weiss stood back from a distance. They were all trying to hit the Beringel with ranged attacks, while Nora, Yang, and Katsuki would occasionally go in for a more powerful strike up close. Weiss and Shoto would use their Semblances and Dust to fire off a variety of attack, attempting to freeze, ignite, and electrocute the monster. Realistically, this was their best strategy; keep mobile, not let the Beringel take out multiple targets at a time, and wait for the best opportunity to strike.

But it wasn't working.

Every time Yang, Katsuki, or Nora went in for a heavy strike, the Beringel would instantly swap them away like they were nothing more than flies. If one of them got a little to slow as the circled around, the Beringel would quickly exploit this, usually by throwing another chunk of the ground at them. Though they were smaller than the one it threw at Ruby, it still packed a punch. To make matters worse, they were beginning to tire out. Katsuki looked exhausted as he ran, his Aura beginning to flicker as he continued his efforts to take the beast down, with the same being true for Nora and Yang, who had each taken some big hits from the Beringel. Shoto also looked like he was reaching his limit, as his ice attacks had become much slower than they initially had been, and his breaths had become more labored.

' _If this keeps up, they're going to die!'_

 **(Cue- You Say Run)**

As Izuku watched on, he felt a familiar feeling with his chest. He instantly recognized it as the same feeling he felt when his Aura was unlocked, and he again felt like a warm liquid had engulphed him. But this time was different. This time it felt… stronger. Much, much, stronger.

"Uhh… are you okay, Izuku?" Izuku turned to Ruby, only to see she was looking at his body, Izuku looked down, seeing his Aura was covering him in a layer of protection much stronger than it had before. Though this initially confused Izuku just as much as it had confused Ruby, he began to put the pieces together, remembering his mentor's words. Ones he'd told him three days before Initiation day.

' _ **When you do fully unlock One For All, it will feel a lot like how it did when you first unlocked your semblance, only much greater. And when you need to use it...'**_

"Yeah… I'm okay. I-I think you may want to stand back."

"Uh, sure?" Ruby took a couple of steps back from Izuku, who slowly began to crouch himself down, eyes locked onto the battle scene in front of him.

' _Have to wait for the right time…'_ Izuku watched closely as his fellow Initiates ran around the Beringel. He knew if he didn't time this right, he might end up killing someone on accident.

But then, he found it. When there was no one on the opposite side of the Beringel from Izuku, he let all the power he had in him out. He used One For All to lunch himself off the ground, kicking up a mountain of dirt behind him as he did so. Ruby was barely able to keep up with his movements, mouth practically dropping to the floor as Izuku soared through the sky towards the Beringel.

He flew directly over the heads of Shoto and Weiss, who were almost thrown to the ground by the force of the wind. As they looked up the sky, both of them were barely able to catch sight of Izuku, though neither could believe what they were seeing.

The Beringel barely even realized what had happened by the time Izuku was upon him. Izuku brought his fist back, feeling the power of his newfound Semblance flow through his right arm, ripping the sleeves from his clothes. As Izuku brought his fist forward, he remembered the advice All Might had given him.

' _ **Clench your butt cheeks, kid…'**_

' _...and yell this from the depths of your heart!'_

"SSSSMMMAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSHHHH!"

Izuku's fist impacted the Beringel head-on, coliding with the right side of its face and sending a torrent of power which launched the Beringel back. Izuku continued on his trajectory, unable to see anything due to the force of the impact kicking up dirt all around him. Eventually, he fell to the ground, his Aura breaking as it took as much of the impact from the hit as it could.

Only now, on the ground, did Izuku realize the pain he was in. He turned to his right arm, only to find it completely bruised, colored over in a light purple, likely broken. The right hand of his Peacekeepers was also thoroughly damaged, and would likely have to be replaced. If the pain from his legs was any indication, he had broken them as well. As the dust from the impact began to clear up, he looked in front of him to see what had become of the Beringel. Only to find it wasn't in front of him. At least, not _immediately_ in front of him.

What was in front of him, however, was a cone shape crater, going on for a couple of hundred feet, created by his One For All infused punch. Any trees in the wake of the impact were with completely gone or were reduced to mere stumps. Halfway into the crater lied the Beringel. Its head had been taken clean off as it lied on it back in the dirt before eventually evaporating into a massive cloud of black smoke.

As for the other teens, they were completely dumbstruck. Just seconds ago, they were all sure that the massive Silverback Beringel before them would be their end. But now, that monster was at least a hundred feet away, evaporating into a mist of nothing. And who was responsible for this?

 **(End Music)**

"DEKU!" Katsuki was the first the break out of the shock, quickly making his way over to his partner. He quickly grabbed at his jacket and attempted to bring him to his feet. "What the fuck did you just do you bas-" Katsuki cut himself short as he looked at Izuku, seeing that his arm and his legs were badly broken.

"No one else got hurt… right, Kacchan?" Izuku managed to ask weekly. Katsuki's began to shake in a mixture of disbelief and anger.

"Don't ignore me you bastard! How long have you been hiding this?" Katsuki said through gritted teeth.

"Please… just get everyone out…" Were the last word's Izuku said before he faded into unconsciousness from the pain, leaving his partner without an answer.

' _It can't be…'_ The ashy-haired grenadier thought to himself, 'that's _his Semblance. He killed that thing with one shot when nothing I did even left a mark! That means… if it hadn't been for Deku… I would've… I'd be-"_

"Hey!" Katsuki was taken from his thoughts by Shoto as the half and half teen ran up to him, with Tenya right behind him. Most of the other began to walk up to him as well, though Yang chose to make sure Ruby was ok first. "It's Katsuki, right? Izuku said you two have known each other for a long time. Do you have any clue what he just did?" Katsuki, still clearly angered, let go of Izuku, who lightly fell to the ground.

"The fucking nerd used his Semblance to kill that thing, but he overdid it and broke three of his limbs."

"He did what?!" Jaune asked in surprise.

"That's awesome!" Nora yelled out as she pumped her fist into the air. "He can kill things in one punch like that! Man! He could break so many legs with that!"

"Including his own," Ren added.

"Here," Tenya said as he walked over the unconscious Izuku. "I have some medical equipment we can use to treat his injuries, but we'll need to get him out of here."

"That might not be so easy…" Blake said as she pointed up to the sky. When everyone turned their attention upwards, they saw the Nevermore which had been circling the sky earlier was now directly above them and had definitely laid its eyes on them.

"We'll have to make this quick then," Tenya said. "Once I'm done applying these we'll cover you while you carry him out, Katsuki."

"You carry him, four-eyes!"

"What?" Tenya was completely shocked when he turned to see Katsuki walking away from him and his partner, his attention focused on the Nevermore. "He's your partner! It's your job to ensure he makes it out of the forest!"

"Don't be an idiot!" Katsuki yelled before turning his attention to Tenya. "I saw you running around. Your Semblance increases your speed, right?" Tenya gave Katsuki a look of confusion but eventually nodded. "That damn bird might try to come and take a bite out of one of us, which means we'll have to be careful and fast. And whoever caries Deku around will be slowed down and more vulnerable. Your Semblance will make up for that. My Semblance lets me make explosions, so I'd be more suited to attacking that damn bird when it comes down here. Besides, my Aura's already running on empty, so I'd have a tough time carrying him."

Tenya was left with his mouth slightly open, shocked that the person who appeared to be a mindless brute actually made a good argument. "I see your point," Tenya said with a nod. "Give me a few more minutes and he should be good to go." Tenya quickly got to work patching up Izuku, with Shoto joining in to speed up the process, while Katsuki went over and retrieved one of the relics.

As the teens kept an eye on the Nevermore and prepared to leave, Weiss stood motionless, staring at Tenya and Shoto as they patched up Izuku. She could hardly believe it. Yesterday that boy seemed like a mess when she first met him and Ruby. Sure, he sided with her when Blake intervened in their conversation, but he still appeared to be nothing more than an incompetent child. But after seeing him take out a Silverback Beringel with one punch...

' _He may have a strong Semblance, but that doesn't mean anything. If he can't use it without destroying his body, he might as well not even have it in the first place.'_

* * *

 _Elsewhere_

As Beacon Academy's staff looked at their tablets, they were in utter disbelief. Most of them were ready to jump into the forest and try to deal with the Silverback Beringel themselves, regardless of if Ozpin told them to or not. But in the blink of an eye, the Beringel had been reduced to nothing and a giant crater had been carved into the Emerald Forest by a single punch.

"Well, _that's_ not something ya see every day…" Present Mic said in disbelief.

"I would appear our crop of students this year will be far from ordinary," Ozpin said with a smug grin on his face. Though he was surprised by Izuku's punch, he already knew Izuku had been given One For All, giving him the most context.

"Though he will need to learn to control the output of it if he hasn't already," Glynda said. Though she knew of One For All's existence, she didn't know Izuku had been given it, leaving her somewhat in the dark.

"Yeah but still, must of the teachers here would've had a hard time taking that thing down alone. If that kid can do it in one punch, he's certainly got a bright future." Mic retorted.

Aizawa, however, kept out of the conversation, instead focusing on the boy in question. He watched as the green haired teen was lifted up by Tenya, who was now carrying him on his back.

' _That boy took that thing down, but it looks like he broke three limbs in the process. He may have saved them from the Beringel, but now he's just gonna weigh them down, especially his partner. He may not be hopeless, but he's far from outstanding.'_

* * *

 _Initiation Day, 5:20 P.M., Abandoned Temple_

 **(Cue- Red Like Roses Part II)**

As the Giant Nevermore circled overhead, the twelve Hunter-hopefuls all ran towards the cliff west of the Temple. Ruby was leading the pack, who, with the aid of Aura healing her wounds, was able to keep pace with everyone else, though she wasn't at full speed. Tenya was in the center of the group, as this allowed for everyone else to aid in protecting Izuku.

On their path, they discovered the small Temple where the relics were located was just a small part of the ruins in the Emerald Forest, as large pillars and bridges were found on both sides of them. Separating them from the cliff was a large ravine, with part of the ruins connecting the Emerald Forest to the cliff.

"Looks like that bridge is our ticket out of here," Yang said.

"I think the Nevermore realized that too." Pyrrha pointed out as the Nevermore flew and landed on top of the ruins which created the bridge, letting out a screech at the teens. The bird then leaped from the ruins and swooped down, flying right towards them.

"Heads up!" Ruby yelled. The teens all moved together into the cover of the ruins, barely dodging the Nevermore's attack. The bird then flew up and began to circle back.

"Guess we're gonna have to fight this thing too," Shoto said, crushing another Dust Crystal to recharge his supply of ice.

"That thing's skin won't be as tough as the Beringel's, but we're gonna have a harder time landing our shots," Blake said.

"Will we even have enough strength and ammo left to do that?" Tenya asked. The truth was no. most of them had less than half their Aura left and had depleted most of their ammo on the Beringel. It would be nearly impossible to brute force their way through the bird. As the teens realized this, their expressions became more worrisome, even Katsuki's to an extent.

"Why don't we just ground it?" At those words, ten teens instantly turned their attention to Jaune, who suddenly became much more nervous at the newfound attention. "I-I mean, i-it may be a Grimm, but it's still a bird, r-right? That means its bones are hollow, so we should be able to cut through its wings pretty easily."

"And just how the Hell do you expect us to do that?" Katsuki asked.

"And what would be the plan after that?" Weiss added.

The Nevermore circled overhead for several minutes, waiting for its prey to reemerge from under the ruins. Eventually, it got its wish, as it set its sights on Jaune, who began sprinting out from the ruins towards the bridge. The Nevermore wasted little time as it swooped down at the blonde, this time from the opposite direction of its previous strike.

Jaune looked back, only to see that the Nevermore was flying just above the ground, and was approaching at fast speeds.

"Now!"

At Jaune's cue, a giant wall of ice shot out from underneath the ruins, separating Jaune and the Nevermore. The bird had no time to react, causing it to crash directly into the ice, getting disoriented as it went right through it. Jaune barely avoided getting crushed by ducking to the ground. He lifted his head up to see that the bird was on the ground, slowly getting up from its unexpected landing. "Go, you guys!"

Jaune didn't need to call out the order, as Tenya and Ruby were already using their Semblances to speed directly at the Nevermore. When the Nevermore saw the two of them, it attempted to fly away. But it was too late, as Ruby and Tenya used Crescent Rose and Legacy, along with the added strength of their speed, to cut through each of the Nevermore's wings, only then to speed away from the Nevermore as fast as they'd come in.

The bird cried out in pain as it began to try and run away from the teens. However, their plan wasn't over just yet. A volley of fire came at the Nevermore, as all the other Initiates emerged out from the ruins and used their ranged attacks to lay into the Nevermore. The bird couldn't withstand the onslaught, and the unrelenting fire eventually pushed the bird to the edge of the ravine.

"DIE!" Katsuki yelled out as he used his Semblance to launch himself at the Nevermore. The bird opened its mouth, hoping that the grenadier's trajectory would lead it into the bird's stomach. But this wouldn't happen, as before he made physical contact with the bird, Katsuki used the last of his strength to fire off the biggest explosion he could. This stunned the bird immensely, causing it to stagger back until, with the aid of some fire from the other students, the bird was sent the last of the distance over and into the ravine.

As Katsuki lost sight of the bird, he nearly collapsed from exhaustion, his Aura breaking from the overuse of his Semblance. His hand hurt like Hell, and he felt like he was about to pass out. Most of the others were in similar states, their Auras nearly depleted, and their breathing slow and labored. Ruby fell down to one knee, clutching the bandages on her stomach. Nora nearly fell over completely, only to be caught by Ren. Jaune began walking over to the others, Izuku now being carried on his back, as he made sure everyone was ok. Despite how tired they were, they were all relieved.

The Giant Nevermore was dead. They'd won.

 **(End Music)**

* * *

 _Initiation Day, 9:00 P.M., Beacon Academy Infirmary_

The first thing Izuku noticed when he woke up was that he was no longer in the middle of the Emerald Forest. This gave him a scare initially, however, as he took in his surrounding, he slowly became calmer.

The infirmary he was in was almost completely white, with several medical beds in plain view. As Izuku began to get up, he realized that the overwhelming pain that was once in his legs and right arm were gone.

"They're healed… how long have I been out for?"

"Oh, just a few hours." Izuku looked up to his left and saw that he was not alone. Standing in front of him was a woman with light orange hair and pink eyes. Her hair was worn in a bun with a large syringe poking out of it. She wore a lab coat over a dress with yellow and red vest like designs, along with pink boots which went up past her knees. "It's Nine O'Clock right now. And don't worry, the Team Selection Ceremony hasn't happened yet, so you really didn't miss much."

"O-Okay. W-Who are you?"

"I'm Professor Peach, Beacon Academy's Nurse. I'm also the one who healed up your broken limbs. Don't make a habit of that, by the way."

"Oh, t-thanks. I'll try not to."

"You're all good to go, just make sure not to put too much strain on your body for the rest of the day."

"Alright, thanks again." Peach nodded in response before walking over to another section of the Nurse's Office, presumably where her office was. Izuku stood from his bed and walked over to the door, sighing in relief as he opened it. It was over. He'd passed the Initiation. He was gonna become a Huntsman. He smiled to himself as he closed the door, not realizing he wasn't alone.

"Deku…" Izuku froze in place before looking up to see Katsuki leaning against the wall opposite Izuku. He looked more or less the same as he had during Initiation, though his Explosive Emperors were in their collapsed form. His arms were cross and his gaze was dead set on Izuku, hate-filled as ever.

"O-O-Oh, h-hey, Kacchan! F-Funny running into you here…" Izuku said as he scratched at the back of his head, worried his partner was going to explode any second, both figuratively and literally.

"The stupid ceremony's about to start. Let's go ya damn nerd." Katsuki said before standing up straight and walking to the right, only for Izuku to quickly follow by his side. Izuku began to sweat nervously, as Katsuki seemed to have returned to his usually spiteful demeanor, his hands stuffed in his pockets and his gaze on the floor, spikey blonde hair obscuring his eyes.

"S-So, i-is everyone else already at the-"

"How long?"

"Huh?" Izuku almost froze up again at his partner's words. Katsuki slowly turned his head over to Izuku.

"Don't make me fucking repeat myself. How long have you had Aura?"

"J-Just a few weeks," Izuku responded. There was no point in lying about that. He wasn't about to expose the existence of One For All, but he didn't feel like lying to Katsuki if he didn't need to.

"And how'd ya do it?" That part he would have to lie about.

"I-I'm not sure really. I don't when I was able to or why. It just… happened, I guess." Izuku looked at the ground, silently praying that Katsuki wouldn't see through his lie.

"Tch. Whatever. I can tell you're hiding something but it doesn't really matter. Aura or not nothing's changed." Izuku, though worried Katsuki was still suspicious, was relieved he wouldn't be questioned any further tonight, as it would give him time to think up a better excuse than, "it just happened".

When the two of them arrived at Beacon's Amphitheater, they were greeted by Jaune, who quickly lead them over to where the others were standing. Before they could ask Izuku any questions, the ceremony began. Students were called up four at a time by Ozpin and were given their teams, and a leader was assigned for each team. After about thirty minutes of waiting, Ozpin finally got the twelve of them.

"Jaune Arc. Lie Ren. Pyrrha Nikos. Nora Valkyrie." All four teens stood up on the amphitheater's stage, turned away from the crowd and facing Ozpin. "The four of you retrieved the White Rook pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team JNPR. Led by... Jaune Arc!"

"Huh? L-Led by...?" Jaune's concerns were drowned out by the applause of the crowd, as Nora celebrated by hugging Ren, while Pyrrha's attempt to pat her leader on the shoulder lead to him falling over. After the four of them left the stage together, Ozpin continued.

"Blake Belladonna. Ruby Rose. Weiss Schnee. Yang Xiao Long. The four of you retrieved the White Knight pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team RWBY. Led by... Ruby Rose!" As the crowd again applauded, the four girls had a wide array of expression, from confusion on the part of Ruby and _especially_ Weiss to Yang's happiness for her sister, to Blake's general indifference. As the four walked off the stage, Izuku realized it was now his turn to walk up.

"Shoto Todoroki. Katsuki Bakugo. Izuku Midoriya. Tenya Iida." The four boys stood up across the stage from Ozpin, with Tenya standing up perfectly straight, Katsuki hunched over, Izuku almost shaking with nerves, and Shoto looking calm as ever. "The four of you retrieved the White Bishop pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team MSKI (Murasaki). Led by… Izuku Midoriya!"

"Huh?" Izuku probably would've started crying tears of joy if it weren't for the total shock he was in. Shoto seemed unsurprised by the outcome, while Tenya, although initially surprised, looked far from disappointed with the results, and the two turned over to congratulate Izuku. Or rather they would have if it weren't for…

" _What_..." Katsuki, who was directly to Izuku's left, was now staring at Izuku with a look so menacing the Silverback Beringel likely would've stopped in its tracks. Tenya and Shoto quickly grabbed ahold of Katsuki before he could use his Semblance to blow Izuku "straight to Hell", with Izuku jumping back in fear.

"It looks like things are shaping up to be an... interesting year," Ozpin said slowly. ' _Especially with those Grimm. Powerful monsters have shown up at Initiations before, but today was unprecedented. If this can be expected for the rest of these children's futures…'_

' _Well… time will tell I suppose.'_

* * *

 _Initiation Day, 10:00 P.M., Unknown Bar in Vale_

Roman Torchwick stood in front of a reinforced metal door, cigar in his mouth and his weapon, Melodic Cudgel, in hand. Truth be told, he was a bit nervous. He didn't like meeting with clients alone, seeing as the people he worked with were far from law-abiding citizens, and that went double, no, _triple_ for this guy.

' _Should've had Neo tag along…'_ He thought to himself as he knocked on the door. He waited patiently, knowing the hidden cameras throughout the room were being checked by those on the other side of the door. Eventually, Roman heard the sound of the door unlocking. He opened the door and walked into the small bar. It would've looked like your average bar, save for a few details. The biggest of those details being its inhabitants.

Behind the bar stood a man wearing an elegant suit with five metal plates around his collar bone which went up to his eyes. At least, Roman assumed it was a man. It was hard to tell seeing as this person used their Semblance to cover themselves up in a cloud of purple mist, leaving a pair off menacing yellow eyes.

The man at a stool in front of the bar was deathly pale with uneven greyish-blue hair. He had a black long sleeve shirt and black pants and red shoes. He had fourteen fake hands covering the upper half of his body, including his face. This was the guy who gave Roman the creeps. Not that he'd let it show, of course.

"Mr. Torchwick. Glad you could join us on such short notice." Said the man behind the counter.

"Anytime there, Kurogiri. That is, as long as you keep those drinks comin'" Roman said as he took a seat the bar, several stools down from the hand covered man. "So, what's the occasion this time?"

"We need men." Respond the hand covered man. "They don't need to be particularly good or anything. We just need a lot of 'em."

"Alright… what's the occasion, Tomura Shigaraki?" Roman asked.

"Simple. The Symbol of Peace is in town." Ugh, Roman didn't need a reminder of that. He'd made a habit of not operating in areas where All Might worked. When he caught a whiff that he was coming to Vale, Roman was tempted to book it straight to Vacuo. He would have too, if not for the fact that the money he was getting from these two and another client was pretty damn good.

"Gotcha. Need some extra protection for a job then?"

"No," Tomura responded in a cold voice before looking over at Roman, his blood red eyes poking out from behind his mask. "We're going to kill him."

* * *

 **A/N**

 **That's a wrap on the first half of Volume One! This chapter went a whole lot longer than expected, but I'm ultimately glad with how it turned out.**

 **Chapter Commentary:**

 **-I wanted to show the moment of Izuku's Aura unlocking from the beginning, since it's a pretty big character moment, and I felt that this was a good spot to do it, as this is the part of the show where the main cast first gets into fights with Grimm. Since Aura is a key part of combat in RWBY, I thought it made sense to set its basic rules right before things get combat heavy. I have the rules for Aura set so that you** _ **can**_ **get damaged through your Aura. Wanted to get this out of the way quick, as Aura has been pretty poorly handled throughout most of RWBY.**

 **-Deku's description of Aura as being a "warm liquid" was inspired by Gon's description of Nen when he first unlocked it in Hunter x Hunter. If you haven't watched that show, you should. The earlier episodes aren't the greatest, but the later Arcs of the show are amazing. I'll probably also use some of its OSTs later on.**

 **-In this fic, I'm gonna try to play up the Grimm as being a lot more of a threat than they're shown to be in RWBY proper. In the show, the Grimm don't feel nearly as threatening as they should be, with some exception like the Wyvern, Nucklavee, and the Apathy. RWBY and JNPR are able to take down a Ginat Nevermore and a Deathstalker on their first day with little effort, and Team CFVY basically solo all the Grimm in the Volume 2 finale. I wanted to sell the fact that taking on high-level Grimm is hard, even for pro-Hunters, which is why by the end of the fight, all of them were exhausted or passed out in Izuku's case. They were only able to beat the Beringel in this Chapter through Izuku's self-sacrifice, and they had to use strategy and everything they had left in them to take out the Nevermore.**

 **-The Satoris are named after ape-men creatures reported to be found in the Gifu Mountains in Japan. They're said to be intelligent, carnivorous creatures, who occasionally feed on humans to travel into the Gifu Mountains. I came up with the idea of intelligent mini-Beringels before I actually found out about these guys. They fit the bill pretty well, so I went with that as their name. Apparently, the "real" ones can read people's minds. These ones can't though.**

 **-The Silverback Beringel is basically just a way stronger version of the one Ruby fought in the Volume 4 Character Short. Power wise, I imagine it's a little bit weaker than the Nucklavee, mainly in its intelligence, with it being slightly weaker in strength.**

 **-Murasaki means purple in Japanese.**

 **Reviews:**

 **treyalexander63917- I agree, Deku and Bakugo have a really great dynamic between the two of them, and it's one of the best parts of MHA, in my opinion. Hopefully I'll be able to do it justice.**

 **Dracus7- I've considered both of those options for shipping pairs. Bakugo and Yang are the more likely of the two, but I won't set anything in stone yet, with the exception of Izuku and Weiss.**

 **MarvelNinja10- It's not a bad thing, that ending was awesome.**

 **1jesus- Thanks!**

 **Gildas13579- Glad you enjoyed it so far!**

 **Geraze90- Yeah, Izuku will have to boost his self-confidence a bit before he can really hope to get the ball rolling with Weiss, so to speak.**

 **Housekeeping:**

 **No real clue with how to tease the next chapter, but the ending of this one should give you a pretty good idea of what to expect in the not-so-distant future.**

 **Hope you guys stay tuned!**


	6. The Illustrious Beacon Academy

**Welcome back! Sorry about the super long wait again. Finals are tough, and the school year ended pretty late where I live, which sucked.**

 **Either way, let's get this thing started!**

 **I do not own RWBY nor My Hero Academia all rights belong to Monty Oum and Kohei Horikoshi and their respective publishing companies.**

 **I do not own the cover image.**

 **Chapter 6: The Illustrious Beacon Academy**

* * *

 _Day One of Beacon's First Semester, 7:00 A.M., Team MSKI Dorm Room_

Izuku slowly opened his eyes to the sound of birds chirping outside. As he sat up, he felt a soreness throughout his entire body, especially his legs and his right arm. Needless to say, yesterday had been incredibly tiring, and though his Aura would do a lot of the work to deal with the soreness, he made sure to stretch before he got out of bed.

Despite the soreness, his legs and arms were pretty much healed. Professor Peach really was a miracle worker. Healing Semblances were incredibly rare, let alone one as potent as hers. Unfortunately, it was very tiring on whoever it was used on, meaning it couldn't be abused.

As Izuku looked around the room, he almost forgot where he was. A lot of last night had seemed like a blur, especially after teams were assigned. Truth be told, it was still quite a bit for him to take in. He was the Leader of Team MSKI. Not only would he become a Huntsman, but he was also gonna be leading a team for the next four years.

It made him incredibly nervous. He hadn't lead anything in his life, no school clubs, sports teams, not even the games of Huntsmen when he was little. And now that he was a leader, his team would be putting their lives in his hands. It almost made throw up with how nervous it made him.

' _But still, I'm gonna get the chance to live out my dream. I'm gonna be spending the next four years at Beacon, and I'll be doing it with friends, not to mention a really strong team. This will be-'_

"Wipe that fucking grin off your face, Deku." Izuku, who indeed had a dopey grin on his face, was taken out of his thoughts by his partner. Katsuki, wearing a black tank-top and sweatpants, walked out of the bathroom with a white towel on his head as was finishing drying his hair.

' _How did the shower not wake any of us up?'_ Izuku thought to himself.

"Don't tell me you two are fighting again," Shoto said, rubbing his eyes as he sat up in his bed. He had good reason to be concerned, though fighting wasn't the perfect description. It was mainly Katsuki, who hadn't gotten over the fact that Izuku was leading the team, trying his best to kill the young successor, who repeatedly failed to calm him down. Shoto was convinced he was gonna have to freeze Katsuki in a block of ice until he calmed down. Thankfully, the previous day's events had left all four boys exhausted, so Katsuki found himself too tired to keep his tantrum going.

"Shut up, half-and-half," Katsuki said as he walked over to his bed.

"Y-Yeah, nothing to worry about, Shoto," Izuku assured as he waved his hands in front of his face.

"Good, I don't want to go through that every day for the next few years of my life. Where'd Tenya go?"

"Right here!" The tallest member of MSKI said as he walked through the door that lead into the hallway. Tenya was dressed in a blue t-shirt, grey sweatpants, and white sneakers, and had sweat on his brow. "Sorry if I worried any of you. I was just out for a morning jog was all."

"Oh, that's alright, most of us just woke up anyway. You can feel free to take the shower next" Izuku responded. Tenya nodded as he walked over to his bed and began looking through his clothing. "Since we're all awake, we should have time to grab breakfast before our first class."

"What is our first class anyway?" Shoto asked as he stepped out of bed.

"Here, hold on," Izuku said, grabbing his scroll from his nightstand and looking through his schedule. "It looks like pretty much all our classes are the same," Izuku said, getting a nod from Shoto and Tenya and a scoff from Katsuki. "First class of the day is Aura and Semblance Application at 9:00. Teacher is… Shoto Aizawa, aka 'Eraser Head'."

"Who the hell would call himself 'Eraserhead'?" Katsuki asked demeaningly.

"I think I've heard of him before… he's an Underground Huntsman, mainly doing work in Vale. That's all I can think of right now." Izuku said with his hand to his chin.

"I see. You seem to have a lot of knowledge about Hunters, Izuku." Tenya said as he stood up with his School Uniform in hand.

"O-Oh, y-yeah I guess so. I-It's nothing really." Izuku said with a blush as he scratched the back of his head.

"Tch. Nerd's been this way since we were kids. I'm gonna go get some food." Katsuki said as he walked over to the door.

"Don't you think it would be more fitting for us to eat together? We are a team now." Tenya said.

"Nope," Katsuki responded as he slammed the door behind him. Tenya and Shoto frowned as Izuku sighed to himself.

"I still can't believe someone could be that angry all the time," Tenya said as we walked into the bathroom.

"You said it wasn't always like this. What changed?" Shoto asked as he pulled out his uniform and placed it on his bed.

"To be honest, I'm not quite sure. When we were younger we used to play with each other all the time. Our houses were pretty close to each other in our village. Then, almost overnight, he just… changed, I guess. It was around the time he discovered his Semblance." Izuku responded, continuing to look at the door.

"And when would that be?"

"Just over the age of six. His Aura was unlocked when he was four. I know that's pretty early, but in Aldera, everyone pretty much has their Aura unlocked when we're kids. Not everyone discovers their Semblance though."

"Doesn't seem that weird to me."

"Really?" Izuku was pretty surprised by this. Aldera was fairly uncommon in their unlocking of Auras at a young age. In the namesake cities of the Four Kingdoms, the youngest people would unlock their Auras, if at all, would be around the age of twelve.

"Yeah. I can't remember a time when I didn't have my Aura, and maybe only a couple of memories from before I discovered my Semblance."

"I-Isn't it kind of dangerous to do that? Using Aura is supposed to put a lot of strain on the body. It's not that big of a deal for younger kids, but for infants, it can be really harmful." As Izuku turned to look at Shoto, the young man seemed surprised. That wasn't entirely accurate, but it was the best way Izuku could describe it, as Shoto looked like he'd just slipped up and said something he shouldn't have. Then, his expression shifted to anger as he gave a cold stare to the floor below him. Izuku was about to speak before Shoto abruptly got up.

"I'm gonna go grab some tea from the commons room," Shoto said as he walked to the door. "Want anything?"

"O-Oh, s-some coffee, I guess… hey, did I-" Before Izuku could finish, Shoto was out the door.

' _Was it something I said? This Leadership thing is gonna be a whole lot worse than I thought.'_

* * *

 _Day One of Beacon's First Semester, 9:00 A.M., Shota Aizawa's Classroom_

Shota Aizawa's classroom, much like the other classrooms at Beacon, was shaped very much like a lecture hall. It was small, only having four rows of seats split up into four sections, allowing for about 32 students, eight teams, to sit comfortably. The front of the classroom featured a large desk raised on a small semi-circular platform, with a large chalkboard along the wall. All in all, the room's design was nothing special. But that didn't really irk any of the students. After all, a good teacher matters far more than a good classroom. And as for this class' teacher…

"Less than a minute 'till class starts and still no sign of our damn teacher…" Katsuki said as he propped his head up with his hand.

"While I dislike your tone, I agree with your sentiments. For a teacher of such a prestigious institution to not be in class on the first day is downright disgraceful." Tenya said as he adjusted his glasses.

"Ya know, Four Eyes, you got a knack for taking what everyone's thinking and saying it in the most annoying way possible."

"What did you say?"

"Please just be quiet. You're gonna give me a migraine…" Shoto said as he rubbed his temples with his fingers.

Izuku sighed as he looked on at his teammates. About half an hour before class, the team had all ended up back at their dorm together and walked down to class, though Katsuki made sure to walk a fair distance ahead of the others. All four of them were dressed in Beacon Academy's Uniform, those being black suits lined with gold, accompanied by a blue vest and a white shirt with a red tie. Sadly, Izuku, having no clue how to tie a tie, messed it up and had it far too short, while Katsuki had no tie or vest at all, leaving the top two buttons on his white shirt undone.

Izuku had hoped that by coming down to class early, he would get a chance to talk with their teacher, learn more about the school's curriculum, and maybe even get an autograph. Sadly, their teacher was nowhere to be found, and the desk showed little signs of use. As the newly formed team sat in the front of the classroom, they and classmates had almost lost all hope that their teacher would show up.

Eventually, the clock above the door hit nine o'clock, and nothing had changed.

"The is bullshit!" Katsuki said as he stood up, attracting attention from most of the class.

"Kacchan, where are you going?" Izuku asked with concern.

"I'm not wasting my fucking time in this place if our teacher isn't here," Katsuki said as he began to walk for the door.

"Seeing as it's your first day here, I suggest you don't leave." Everyone in the class turned their attention to the door, only to find what looked like a giant yellow… sleeping bag? And poking out of that sleeping bag was the disheveled face of the class' teacher. "I also suggest you keep your tone down and watch your language. It's unprofessional." The man in the sleeping bag slowly got up, unzipped the bag, stepped out of it, and walked to the front desk, placing the sleeping bag down behind it. "Welcome to Aura and Semblance Application, first years. My name is Shota Aizawa, and I'll be your teacher for the next year here at Beacon." Katsuki grumbled to himself as he took his seat with the rest of his team.

"Let's start by going over the course. In here you'll get a basic understanding of how to effectively and efficiently use your Aura and Semblance. Later into the year, we'll likely go into more advanced techniques, though that will mainly be covered in later years.

"Since you're all first years, I don't expect you all to have perfect control over your Aura and Semblances at this point. You've all had your Aura unlocked for different amounts of time, so you're naturally going to be starting off at different points. Some of you may not even have awakened your Semblance by this point. That being said, that's no reason for you to not take this class seriously. No matter what level you're at right now, you will be expected to improve."

Aizawa reached behind his desk and pulled out a tablet.

"I already have the forms you all filled out when you applied to Beacon, along with footage from Initiation. I've used this to get a baseline for where you are at this point, and where I expect you to be at by the end of the year. I'll go into more detail on individual expectations one on one with each of you. I encourage you to work together to improve. You're all training to be the protectors of the world. Despite the existence of Hunter Rankings, there should be no competition among Hunters.

"As for today, I'll be passing this around for you to fill out. It'll be assessing your basic knowledge of Aura and Semblances. It won't be graded, but you should answer seriously, and don't just guess on answers is you don't know them."

This was starting to get Izuku excited. This would be the perfect class for him to get a better handle on One For All, along with Aura in general. He knew he'd have to work twice as hard as everyone else here to catch up, and this class would be the perfect place to do so. From the look on his face, Tenya shared Izuku's feeling of excitement, which was to be expected of the spectacled teen. Katsuki scoffed slightly, likely wishing he were in sparring class instead right now. Shoto looked almost apathetic as if he were about to go through a routine he'd done a thousand times.

Whatever was to come, one thing was for sure.

These four were going to be a team. Team MSKI.

* * *

 _Same Day, 1:00 P.M., Beacon Academy Dining Hall_

"So what've your guy's classes been like?" Yang asked as she took the last bite from her sandwich.

"Nothing too big. Professor Aizawa gave us papers as a sort of pre-test. Dr. Oobleck gave us several textbooks for usage throughout the year." Tenay responded.

"Ughh. I hate textbooks." Rubby sighed, slumping down onto the cafeteria table.

Currently, teams RWBY, MSKI, and JNPR were all sitting together at the same lunch table, MSKI on one side, RWBY on the other, and JNPR split with Jaune and Pyrrha next to RWBY, and Nora and Ren next to MSKI. However, Katsuki made sure to sit as far from Izuku as he possibly could, and had yet to contribute to the conversation. And as for one icy cold heiress…

"H-Hey, where's Weiss?" Izuku asked as he glanced around the cafeteria, finding no sign of the girl in question. RBY and JNPR all looked down, mostly with looks of sadness, though Blake's face appeared to be more filled with anger.

"There was… an incident in Grimm Studies with Professor Port." Pyrrha said as she scratched at the back of her head.

"Weiss fought against a Boarbatusk. It wasn't flawless or anything, but she won. Afterward, she left class without saying anything." Yang continued.

"When I caught up with her, she got really angry," Ruby said, looking the saddest out of everyone at the table. "She said she didn't want to be on a team lead by me." Izuku couldn't help but feel sympathy at this. After all, he was pretty sure Katsuki shared similar feelings about him after he flipped out the night before. But for Ruby to get the same treatment from someone who was basically a stranger must feel even worse.

"Tenya, you knew Weiss before we came here. Maybe you could talk to her?" Shoto asked.

"I'd be willing to try, but I'm not sure how successful it would be. Weiss and I only know each other because our elder siblings were on the same team when they went to Atlas Academy. We've only met a handful of times before." Tenya explained with several robotic hand gestures.

"Don't worry about it Tenya. I'm sure I can get here to turn around." Ruby said as resumed eating her food.

"If that's what you wish," Tenya responded after nodding.

"So your guy's day was really that easy?" Jaune asked, changing the subject.

"Nothing particularly eventful happened. The only thing of interest might be when Aizawa asked to speak to all the team leaders just before class ended." Shoto said.

"Ah, I almost forgot to ask. What did Professor Aizawa talk to you guys about, Izuku?"

Izuku flinched at Tenya's question, quickly thinking back to Aizawa's conversation.

* * *

 _Earlier That Day_

At Professor's Aizawa's command, the leaders of each team present gathered around in front of his desk. Eight students went up in total, with Izuku standing on the left end of the line.

"Now listen closely. I'd rather not repeat myself." Aizawa began. "As team leaders, you're naturally going to be held to higher standards by myself, the rest of the staff at Beacon, as well as the general public.

"Those expectations may vary a bit, in my class, you'll be expected to ensure that the rest of your team is keeping up with the material and practicing out of class when necessary. If one of your teammates falls behind, you will be held partly accountable. I also recommend you look ahead at the material we'll be covering this year so you and your team will be properly prepared. As the former leader of team ASHE, I'd be more than willing to help you out if need advice, but you'll need to learn how to do things by yourself sooner or later.

"Lastly, you should all be leading by example. Encourage those around you to progress by progressing yourself. And I don't want any excuses about not having control over your Semblance or anything like that." Izuku gulped and began to shake a bit, as Aizawa spoke that last part while staring directly at Izuku. Aizawa glanced over at the classroom door.

"Would ya look at the time. Class is dismissed." Aizawa said sternly, prompting the students in their seats to begin to leave. Aizawa turned his attention to the team leaders. "Get going, you wouldn't want to be late to class on your first day now, would you?" As Aizawa spoke he pulled out his yellow sleeping bag, crawled inside, and laid down, closing his eyes. The eight students surrounding the desk all sweatdropped at this, unable to ask any questions of their teacher.

* * *

 _Back at the Cafeteria_

"Jeez, sounds like the guy's pretty blunt," Nora said.

"Yeah, h-he's pretty intimidating," Izuku said, shaking slightly. "He isn't wrong though. All of us are going to have a lot of responsibility placed on us when we become Hunters."

"Indeed. Especially for you, Ruby, and Jaune. As Professor Aizawa pointed out, the responsibilities of a team leader should not be understated." As Tenya said this, Izuku became even more nervous, almost dropping his drink with how much he was shaking. He wasn't alone though, as Jaune almost froze up at the mention of his name, and Ruby audibly gulped.

"Don't worry, I'm sure you three will make great leaders!" Pyrrha said with a smile.

"Please don't jinx us," Izuku said quietly to himself.

"And besides, it's not like we're gonna let you guys go through all this alone. We'll have your back the whole way." Yang said, earning affirmations from the rest of the table, besides Katsuki who silently scoffed. Ruby took out her Scroll and checked the time.

"Aww crap! We're gonna be late again." Ruby said as she stood up, quickly followed by the rest of the table.

"What's your guy's next class?" Izuku asked.

"Battle Training," Balke responded.

"Really? I guess that means our teams will be together then." Tenya said.

"Awesome, come on. Let's go!" Ruby said as she used her Semblance to speed away, leaving a trail of rose petals behind her.

"She knows we can't keep up with her, right?" Shoto asked.

"Yep," Yang said, shaking her head.

* * *

 _Same Day, 1:27, Beacon Academy Battle Grounds_

Beacon's Battle Grounds weren't quite what anyone had expected, mainly because they all looked so expensive. Sure, the Hunter Academies were some of the best-funded places in all of Remnant, but still, teams RWBY, JNRP, and MSKI were blown away. Stemming off from the main campus was a pair of five miniature abandoned cities, each one the size of a small village. The cities had factories, apartment buildings, and even several small skyscrapers.

"Man they sure went all out, didn't they?" Ruby asked as the three teams entered into Ground Beta, along with several other teams behind them, all dressed in their combat gear.

"You can say that again," Yang said as craned her neck to look at the tallest buildings.

"So who's our teacher for this class, again?" Jaune asked.

"Now that you mention it, I don't think the schedule said who it was. Must be some sort of error…" Izuku said as he brought his hand to his chin.

"Well since it's almost 1:30, I guess he isn't showing up," Weiss said in a sour tone.

' _Man, they weren't exaggerating, Weiss really is mad.'_ Izuku thought to himself, clearly having yet to cheer up from what occurred this morning.

"Think they'll be as weird as our other teachers?" Nora asked with her hands behind her head casually.

" **HAHAHA!"** At that iconic laugh, everyone in the city got chills.

' _No way!' 'That sounded like…'_ Several of the students thought.

' _There's no way he wouldn't have told me he'd be here!'_ Izuku thought as he frantically searched for where the voice came from.

" **I AM HERE!"** In front of the student's path, a large blur of red crashed down into the ground, creating a cloud of dust that got blown into the students. As the students coughed and blew away they smoke, they eventually laid their eyes on none other than the Symbol of Peace, All Might.

"Holy shit…" Yang whispered to herself in amazement, which was about how everyone else felt.

"All Might!" Ruby said in absolute wonder.

"He's in his Silver Age Outfit!" Izuku said. Despite all his time with his All Might, he couldn't help but fanboy-out at the Hunter's.

"You're a teacher here?!" Weiss couldn't help but blurt out in surprise.

" **Indeed I am! Sorry if my late arrival worried any of you, I wanted to be able to surprise my new students. That's also why I requested my name not be put on your schedule for the first day! Now then, let's get down to business! For this class, we'll be having Team Battles!"** All Might said with all the bravado in the world.

' _Good thing there was a quick turnaround on the repairs to Peacekeepers.'_ Izuku thought to himself.

"Four on four battles on the first day?" Tenya asked.

" **Not quite, young man! Were we to let large scale battles like that occur, we'd run out of city space before class even finished. Therefore, we'll be splitting you off into pairs by partners and battling that way!"**

' _Partners?'_ Izuku and Ruby turned to Katsuki and Weiss respectively. While the former two had looks of nervousness on their faces, the latter two could not have looked more angry, especially Katsuki.

" **For those of you wondering who you'll be facing, wait no longer!"** All Might said as he pulled out his Scroll and pressed several buttons on it. Eventually, his scroll projected a list of all the partners in the class, each paired with one another.

 _Match 1) Izuku Midoriya & Katsuki Bakugo VS Nora Valkyrie & Lie Ren _

_Match 2) Ruby Rose & Weiss Schnee VS Russel Thrush & Sky Lark_

 _Match 5) Jaune Arc & Pyrrha Nikos VS Cardin Winchester & Dove Bronzewing _

_Match 8) Shoto Todoroki & Tenya Iida VS Blake Belladonna & Yang Xiao Long_

" **To win, you simply need to lower your opponents' Aura more than they do to yours. If your Aura breaks, you must step out of combat. Each match will last for fifteen minutes, with five minutes beforehand to prepare and strategize. Now let's not waste any more time! The first four fighters will enter the designated combat zone. The rest of us will be in a separate room where we can observe the fight safely."**

Izuku gulped loudly. This wasn't gonna be a cakewalk.

* * *

 _15 Minutes Later…_

Izuku was sweating so nervously he could feel his clothes becoming dampened by it. For the entirety of the five minute prep period, Izuku hadn't even been able to get a word in. Every time he tried to open his mouth, Katsuki shot him a dirty look that quickly shut him up.

' _This is bad,'_ Izuku thought. ' _Kacchan will probably just run right into combat without a second thought. Neither of us has any idea of what Ren and Nora's powers are, so we could get squashed right away if we're not careful.'_

Over speakers placed throughout the area, they heard All Might announce that the prep period was over.

The fight was on.

Katsuki quickly marched off into the center of the designated arena, with Izuku following him, just out of arm's reach. The green haired hunter swallowed his nerves and eventually spoke.

"K-Kacchan, I-I know it's a bit late, b-but still, we should probably come up with a-"

"Fuck off," Katsuki said in a venomous tone. "I don't need a plan to win this fight. The second they get close I'll just blow them to hell."

"B-But if we just ru-"

 ***CRACK***

The second Izuku was close enough to him, Katsuki slapped him away with his right hand, the surprise knocking Izuku to the ground.

"Not one more word," Katsuki said through gritted teeth, now looking at Izuku lying on the ground. "I already told you, you aren't any more useful just cause you've got Aura now. I don't need any help to put those two extras six feet under, least of all you, _Deku_."

Katsuki turned and stormed off, leaving his partner completely behind.

' _Damn it, Kacchan.'_ Izuku thought to himself as he sulked on the ground. ' _Why does it always have to be like this. I don't think we've ever had a conversation where you didn't yell at me since you first learned I was a Severed. But even so, I don't think I really hate you. How could I with all the amazing things you can do?'_ As he thought to himself, Izuku slowly began to bring himself up to his feet.

' _Your confidence in everything… your intelligence… your physical strength… and your Semblance. You've always been better than me at everything._

' _But things have changed… after becoming All Might's successor, coming here to Beacon, becoming your teammate, your partner. From now on, I can't… no… I_ _refuse_ _to...'_

Izuku nodded to himself, his thoughts now solidified in his mind, and began going after his partner.

* * *

 _Moments earlier, Observation Room_

"Guess it's already started. Was hoping it would take him over a minute to snap." Shoto said with a sigh.

"I swear when this is all over I'm gonna punch that guy square in the face," Yang said as she cracked her knuckles.

"While I don't approve of violence against students, I understand your sentiment very well," Tenya responded.

"What a brute," Weiss said, though mainly to herself, as she was standing away from her team.

" **Pay attention, students! You may find through observing this fight that you'll learn something valuable."** All Might as he brought out a Scroll Tablet.

' _ **No favoritism, Young Midoriya. You'll be graded just as harshly as everyone else. Besides, I already threw favoritism out the window when I came up with this exercise. From everything you've told me about Young Bakugo, I knew you two would have trouble once you were matched up. We'll need to fix that right away.**_

' _ **And this matchup may be the perfect opportunity to start that...'**_

* * *

 _Battle Ground Beta_

"You see 'em yet, Ren?" Nora asked in a voice which seemed far too cheerful, given the fact that they were supposed to be fighting right now. Currently, the two were walking along one of the more open streets of the Battle Ground, keeping an eye out for any movement.

"Not yet," Ren said quietly. "I doubt we'll have to look very hard. They're far more likely to come to us instead."

"Yeah, you're right. Think they'll go for a sneak attack?" Nora asked

"That Katsuki guy doesn't really seem like the type to go for a sneak attack."

"OH REALLY!" At Nora words, Katsuki jumped out the second story window of a nearby building directly at the two of them. Nora and Ren quickly jumped away from the building, barely avoiding Katsuki as he exploded the concrete where they once stood.

"It's not really a surprise attack if you yell at us, ya know," Nora commented as she readied her weapon.

"Careful, we still don't know where his teammate is," Ren said quickly.

"You really think I need Deku's help to beat you two? Think again!" Katsuki yelled as he launched himself at the pair with his semblance. Nora took the initiative and stepped ran forward, pulling her hammer behind her and readying to swing it.

As Nora swung her hammer horizontally towards Katsuki, the blonde grenadier used her left hand to boost himself just above Magnhild's arc. Before Nora could readjust her swing's trajectory, Katsuki was already directly above her. Katsuki lowered his right hand right above Nora's head and fired off an explosion right on top of her, propelling the young woman into the ground.

"Nora!" Ren yelled before firing off a volley of shots with his pistols, StormFlower. Katsuki rolled forward as he hit the ground. Though the first few shots from Ren hit Katsuki, chipping away at his Aura, the blonde used Explosive Emperors to guard his face and upper body as he charged towards his attacker. As he closed the distance, Katsuki brought his right hand back in an attempt to strike with another explosion. Ren saw this and jumped away at the last second, once again barely avoiding an explosion.

"That won't work twice in a row!" Katsuki said as he pressed a button on the bottom of his right gauntlet. From the hole on the grenade pin of Explosive Emperors, a blood red glow began to emerge, eventually firing off a small red, bullet-like ball of fire. Ren had no time to dodge, causing the bullet to hit him directly in the chest, knocking him back into the building behind him. "My gauntlets aren't just for show! They've got Fire Dust in 'em that can fire off attacks at range."

"Thanks for the info!" Nora yelled as she charged up from behind Katsuki. Katsuki quickly turned around and brought both his hands together. Nora swung Magnhild directly towards Katsuki's gut, but before it could make contact, Katsuki fired off a series of violent explosions, completely repelling Nora's swing, sending her back several feet.

"How's yelling out their surprise attacks, now, bitch!" Katsuki yelled triumphantly.

' _This is bad. Nora can't overpower him, and I might not be fast enough to get a hit on him.'_ Ren though with gritted teeth as he stood up slowly. ' _Guess we'll have to go with_ that _plan.'_

"Nora! We're doing the thing!" Ren said as he loaded new rounds into StormFlower.

"Really? Ha! Sounds like a plan." Nora said as she stood back up.

' _What now?'_ Katsuki said as he looked back and forth between them. Eventually, Ren brought Stormflower up and Katsuki got ready to defend himself yet again...

Only for Ren to fire a dozen rounds straight into Nora's stomach.

Nora staggered back a couple of steps before dropping to a knee. Katsuki was shocked but simply laughed it off. "HA! Was _that_ your brilliant plan? Beat each other up so I don't get to be the one to kill ya! I win either way ya know!" Katsuki said as he produced tiny explosions from his palms.

"Tough we are opponents," Ren calmly stated. "I wish you luck with dealing what's about to happen."

"Huh?" Katsuki said, lowering his hands slightly. Had Katsuki been more observant, he would have seen Nora had returned to her feet and brought Magnhild back behind her for an attack. Katsuki turned back to look at her, only to see Nora had moved so fast she was now right next to him, her body covered in bright pink static. Katsuki barely had time to bright his hands up to block from Nora's swing before being sent back a dozen feet. Katsuki rolled backward before eventually using his hands to stop himself by dragging them on the ground. "What the hell?!" Katsuki's question would go unanswered, as Nora had already closed the distance between them.

Katsuki brought his hands up again, firing off explosions even stronger than the ones he used against her before. Instead of hearing Nora get blown back, Katsuki saw the head of a hammer emerge from his explosions before it quickly sunk itself into his gut, launching him back and into the air. With the wind blown out of him, the blonde grenadier flew through the air, only to be stopped by Ren who jumped up and delivered a kick straight into his lower back.

' _What the fuck just happened?'_ Katsuki thought through the pain.

* * *

 _Same Time, Observation Room_

"That turned around quickly," Pyrrha commented.

"Guess the little shit's finally getting what he deserves," Yang said with a smirk.

"So that's how her power works," Tenya said.

"We talked about it a bit last night," Jaune said with a bit of a smile. "Nora can absorb lightning, whether Dust or natural, into her body and use it to increase her speed and strength exponentially. Ren shot her with Lightning Dust in order to distract Katsuki and make an opening."

' _It's similar to mine, then.'_ Shoto thought to himself.

' _ **This is precisely why I chose Young Ren and Young Miss Valkyrie to fight the two of you, Young Midoriya.'**_ All Might thought. ' _ **Of all the partner pairs in the class, you four are the only ones who knew each other prior to entering Beacon. I wanted to show you what the two of you could be if you decided to work together, and I wanted to push you to do so. Of all the First Year Students…**_

' _ **These two have by far the best teamwork!'**_

* * *

 _Battle Ground Beta_

Katsuki was once again sent back by another of Nora's swings, tumbling along the ground before stopping a dozen or so feet from his opponents. ' _Dammit, she's suddenly way faster and stronger. I could probably overpower her with an Explosion enhanced by my gauntlet, but the other one would attack from the side before I could get the shot off.'_ Katsuki slowly got to his as Nora charged at him, readying an overhead swing. ' _Guess I'll just have to-'_

Before Katsuki could finish his thought, a blast of ice came in from behind him and put up a barrier between them. Before Katsuki could react, an arm grabbed him from behind, lifting him up and quickly running with him away from the street they were fighting in and into a back alley. Though Nora tried to pursue them, several more walls of ice were created, sealing off the alley's entrance. Nora used Magnhild to smash a hole clean through the ice, only to find no one on the other side.

"Awww. They got away!" Nora said with a look of disappointment.

"That's probably for the best, you were running out of charge on your Semblance anyway," Ren said as he walked up to her and reloaded StormFlower.

"So what's the plan? Should we try to find them?"

"No, though Katsuki got some good hits on us, his Aura will have more taken out of it than both of our combined. If we wait it out, we should win."

"Come ooooon! That's no fun!" Nora whined to her best friend.

"Also, running into the alley after them would give them the advantage of surprise."

"Pleeeeeease?" Nora asked with the largest puppy-dog eyes she could manage.

"Ugh, fine." Ren relented. "But let's avoid entering into the alleys, as well as avoid splitting up."

"Yay!" Nora cheered as she jumped into the air, raising Magnhild up with her and earning a sigh and a small smile from Ren.

 _With Katsuki_

Katsuki was currently leaning against a wall, regaining his breath and using his Aura to speed up his body's recovery from the beating he'd just received. As you would imagine, this hadn't put him in a good mood. However, what put him in an even worse mood was who had pulled him out of the beating.

"Ok, I'm pretty sure they're not following us. We should be able to rest here for a minute." Izuku said as he took one last look around the corner before returning to his partner. "You took a lot of hits back there, are you gonna-"

"Fuck off… Deku," Katsuki said in between breaths. Izuku stopped and flinch right across the alleyway from the grenadier, his face turning into a slight frown as he began to look at the floor. "I told you from the start that I didn't need your help. I would've been fine on my own!"

"K-Kacchan I know what you said, b-but you can't beat them by yourself. Their teamwork is too good. Plus when Nora activates her Semblance, she becomes stronger than you. You won't be able to win by yourself."

"If I can't win against them…" Katsuki said before looking up at the green haired successor "I'd rather just lose than accept your help."

"Don't you dare say that!" Izuku yelled back, causing Katsuki to flinch slightly. "You're the one who never gives up! Who always wins! No matter who you fight! It's been that since we were kids. I've always been trailing behind you. But now things are different. We're training to be Huntsmen. Not only are we on a team with two amazing other people, but we're partners.

"Kacchan. Even though I've always been behind you, I won't let the gap between us stay that big, not just for my sake, but for yours, Shoto's, and Tenya's as well." Izuku said as he turned his head to look at his partner in the eyes.

"From now on, I refuse to be so much weaker than you! I will not weight down our team!"

Katsuki tilted his head down, gritted his teeth, and clenched his fists. "If you're not gonna give up, then _fine_! But you're leaving the redhead to me! You can deal with that damn ninja." Katsuki said as he began to march out of the alleyway with Izuku following right beside him

"Right! J-Just be careful. Your Aura is already under half-"

"Are you asking me to hit you again?!"

* * *

 _Soon After_

" _ **Two minutes remaining, Hunters!"**_ All Might announced over the loudspeakers throughout the training grounds.

"Come on! What's the hold-up? We were just getting warmed up!" Nora complained yet again as she and her partner yet again walked vigilantly down the streets.

"At this point, they'll have a hard time making a comeback," Ren responded.

"Yeah, but the tension will make it all the more exci-"

 ***BOOM***

Nora was cut off from the sound of Katsuki's signature explosion as he launched himself from an alleyway behind them.

"You really think you've won?!" Katsuki yelled as he charged towards who Nora, who quickly returned the favor by running with Magnhild ready to go. Ren quickly prepared to fire off Lightning Dust into Nora's back but was cut off by a gust of wind which quickly pushed him back to the opposite side of the street.

"What the?" Ren said as he regained his composure, only to see that Izuku had fired off the blast at him, his left gauntlet covering in green Wind Dust scales, while his right contained red Fire Dust scales.

Izuku charged forward at before the teenage ninja could fire off StormFlower at him, forcing Ren to duck left and avoid Izuku's punch. Ren swiped at Izuku with his right StormFlower, only for Izuku to block it with his left gauntlet, giving him the opportunity to sink his right first directly into Ren's stomach. Izuku fired off the Fire Dust in Peacekeeper's left gauntlet, causing Ren to be launched several feet back and burning his clothes slightly.

Izuku took this time to quickly look over at Nora and Katsuki's fight in time to see his partner jump back to avoid another of Nora's brutal swings. ' _Nora's not glowing with electricity anymore. If she's not powered up then Kacchan should be able to hold his own against her. From what he said, Ren shot Lightning Dust at her right before she became stronger. If I can keep Ren from getting an opening to power her up, we might be able to pull through!'_ Izuku thought.

" _ **One minute!"**_ All Might announced.

"Right… we can do this." Izuku said to himself. He turned back to Ren who was now on his feet and had his pistols aimed right at Izuku. Izuku quickly brought his right hand back and fired off a shot of Fire Dust directly into the ground between him and Ren, leaving an explosion which produced a great amount of smoke and rubble, blocking line of sight between the two of them.

' _What?'_ Ren thought to himself before having a gust of wind, smoke, and rubble blown straight into his face. The teen ninja brought his arms up in front of his face to protect himself. As the gust began to weaken, Izuku jumped through the debris and ended up right in front of Ren yet again. Ren barely had time to block a right hook from Izuku before jumping back yet again.

' _He used the Fire Dust to create a smoke screen, then used the Wind Dust to blow into my face before coming at me.'_ Ren thought to himself as he dodged another of Izuku's Fire Dust shots. ' _Even without his Semblance, he's still strong. Gotta end this fast!'_

Ren took a quick glance over at the other fight before jumping at himself. Though Izuku wasn't expecting this, he quickly brought his guard up, expecting Ren to slash at him with StormFlower. However, Ren jumped directly over him, rolled on the ground, and turned to attack Izuku from the back. Izuku realized this was the case and turned to face his opponent…

Only to find a hammer had been thoroughly planted into his side. Izuku had no time to think as Nora's swing launched him back towards Katsuki who was on the ground regaining his breath.

"Kacchan, what ha-" Izuku stopped when he turned to see the grenadier's Aura had begun to flicker a deep crimson color. ' _He's almost out of Aura! Nora must have gotten a good hit in on him. This is bad. If he takes any more damage, he'll be out, and we don't have much time left.'_

"Nora, let's go!" Ren yelled from several yards away. Izuku quickly turned to see Nora and Ren charging at them, though this time Nora had even more electricity.

"Dammit!" Katsuki yelled as he reached up to fire off another explosion, only to stop when he saw that Izuku was beginning to stand up, though he'd taken off his right Peacekeeper and laid it on the ground. ' _What is this nerd thinking?!'_

' _If I deliver a full powered Smash, I'd end up killing them.'_ Izuku thought as he brought his right hand up in front of him. ' _But we need One For All to win right now. I will keep my promise to Kacchan! That's why this…'_ Izuku brought his thumb and middle finger together. ' _This is the best thing I can think of!'_

"Ya gonna try and flick us away?" Nora asked sarcastically as she charged forward even faster.

"Yes!" Izuku yelled, much to the surprise of everyone on the battlefield. As he yelled this, Izuku's middle finger was suddenly covered in red, vein-like markings, as Katsuki, Ren, and Nora felt a strong amount of Aura emanate from his finger.

"Nora look out!" Ren yelled, unfortunately, his words fell on deaf ears as Nora grinned and continued her charge. When she was right in front of Izuku she swung Magnhild in an arc that would have completely shattered had it not been for Izuku's flick.

And it was one Hell of a flick.

"MISTRAL SMAAAASH!" Izuku yelled as he flicked his finger, generating a torrent of wind which sent Nora and Ren flying back dozens of yards while also knocking Izuku himself back and leaving Katsuki speechless. The flick also kicked up a large amount of dust and debris which hit Ren and Nora while the two were knocked around in the air.

After several seconds, the entire battlefield seemed to settle into a state of absolute silence. All four combatants slowly returned to their feet. Ren and Nora took deep breaths in order to recover from what felt like being inside a tornado, while Izuku held onto his right hand as his finger throbbed in pain. Katsuki meanwhile looked the readiest to go, despite being at the lowest Aura of the four of them just moments ago.

"Alrighty then!" Katsuki yelled as he began to run towards his opponents. "If you two aren't dead yet then lest start taking things seriously-"

" _ **Time's up!"**_ All Might yelled over the loudspeakers, causing Katsuki to almost trip over his own two feet. " _ **The match is over. Great job to both teams, you've certainly set the bar high! Now then, as for the winners…'**_ Izuku quickly pulled out his scroll with his left hand and looked at his and Katsuki's Aura level, leading Ren to do the same for him and Nora."

 _Izuku M. - 64%_

 _Katsuki B. - 16%_

 _Total - 80%_

 _Lie R. - 32%_

 _Nora V. 27%_

 _Total - 59%_

" _ **Young Midoriya and Young Bakugo are victorious!"**_

* * *

 **A/N**

 **And that brings us to the end of the longest wait between chapters so far! Hopefully, it won't ever be this long again unless I announce I'm taking a break.**

 **Chapter Commentary:**

 **-One thing I want to get out of the way right now is that the scene from The Badge and the Burden Pt 2 where Weiss talks with Professor Port did** **not** **happen. Not that I think that scene is bad, it's actually pretty great, I just need Weiss to not make up with her team so fast. For… reasons. Spoilery reasons. You can probably guess who's gonna end up getting her off her high horse already though.**

 **-I initially debated on whether to put Deku and Bakugo up against Ren and Nora or Yang and Blake for this fight. In the end, I chose Ren and Nora as I hadn't given them a chance to shine thus far, and felt that they deserved the chance to kick some ass. Also, as All Might said, the parallels of them being the only other pair to know each other prior to Beacon helped solidify the choice for me.**

 **-Writing the talking scenes between Deku and Bakugo is tougher than I expected. I'm trying to make their friendship develop slightly faster than it did in MHA proper, which is why this fight takes elements of the Battle Trial Fight from Season One, as well as the All Might Exam fight from Season Two. However, I'm still trying to make the two of them, especially Bakugo, still in character and consistent, which, while far from impossible, just requires a bit more attention. I also need to plan ahead with how I plan to have their relationship develop in the time between Volumes 1-3. After that, there may be a BIG curveball thrown in there. Who knows? Either way, hopefully, it's coming across well.**

 **Reviews:**

 **Dracus6 - Probably not. At this point, I really don't have any intention of taking requests, as I feel like if I wouldn't be able to make a decent story off of a request. Plus I haven't seen Goblin SLayer and have only seen part of Akame Ga Kill. Sorry.**

 **Gildas13579 - Glad you enjoyed the chapter! I also cannot wait for Izuku and Weiss to interact. And yes, Deku vs Todoroki will happen. That fight is too good to not have happen. I'll just need to write it well is all.**

 **Geraze90 - Izuku will be able to benefit off his Aura when it comes to OfA. also yeah, Jaue powering him up will be a sight to behold. Also, Yang x Shoto vs Yang x Bakugo is still undecided, but everyone who reads is entitled to give their two cents on the matter.**

 **Glenn - Stayed tuned to find out! (But the answer is definitely a yes)**

 **Guest- Bakugo x Ruby is also a possibility, though I have seen someone else argue against it. We'll just have to wait to see what I decide.**

 **Housekeeping:**

 **Next chapter will have the fights teased from this chapter, though I can't promise they'll all be as long as this one. Shoto and Tenya vs Blake and Yang will be fun though.**

 **See ya next time!**


	7. Starting Line

**Chapter 7: Starting Line**

* * *

 _Day One of Beacon's First Semester, 2:05 P.M., Battle Ground Beta_

"That. Was. AWESOME!" Were the first words Nora spoke to Izuku as the four Hunters-in-training walked back to the observation room. Izuku smiled nervously at Nora's words. He would've been a little more excited had it not been for the fact that his middle finger was pretty badly broken and while it didn't hurt as bad as when he used One For All during the initiation, it still hurt quite a bit. "I thought Ren and I had it in the bag once you two were on the ground right next to each other. I was prepared to smash you guys into next week. But then you used your finger and you were like 'WHAM!', and the next thing I knew, I was flying back like forty feet! That's some crazy power you got there, Izuku!"

"T-Thanks, Nora. You guys did great too though! Your Semblance really is amazing!" Izuku said with a slight blush.

"Yeah, it is pretty darn great!" Nora said with a slight smirk. "But I don't get anywhere near the strength boost that you do! Plus you can use it whenever you want, I need to charge up with Lightning Dust."

"Your Semblance doesn't break your bones though," Ren commented.

"Aww, come on, Ren! That's like the coolest part! He's so strong not even his own body can contain his strength!"

"It can be hindering in combat, though. We saw that much yesterday." Ren retorted.

"Well yeah, but I mean, he's got a whole team to back him up! You and I wouldn't be nearly as strong by ourselves! Plus he still has nine fingers he hasn't used yet! We would've been toast even if we had more time!"

As Ren and Nora, well, mostly Nora, discussed the battle, Izuku glanced away from the two and instead looked to his own partner. While Katsuki usually looked triumphant after winning a battle, he instead kept his eyes to the ground, his spiky, ash blonde hair casting a shadow over his eyes, keeping Izuku from getting a full read on his thoughts. Against his better judgment, Izuku turned towards his partner and swallowed his nerves.

"Y-You alright, Kacchan?" Instead of receiving a response along the lines of 'Shut up, you damn nerd!' Izuku was met with total silence as if Katsuki's mind had completely shut out his surroundings. Before Izuku had a chance to ask his partner anything else...

" **Welcome back, you bunch of Newbies!"** All Might's commanding voice brought Izuku out of his train as the four of them entered the Observation Room. On the far side of the room was one large monitor, along with several smaller monitors on the sides, each showing a different view of the battleground. " **That was a well-fought fight on all sides, you four should be proud! I'll send each of you notes on your performance through your scrolls tonight after I get a chance to review the footage! For now, I imagine you'll want to catch what's left of this fight."**

"It's already started?!" Izuku asked in surprise.

"Once your fight hit the five minutes left mark, All Might sent out the students for the next fight to prepare. He was worried we wouldn't be able to get through them all if they all lasted the full time-limit." Tenya explained as Izuku walked up to join him and Shoto while Katsuki stayed a few steps back from the rest of his team.

"Shouldn't you be more concerned about your finger?" Shoto asked.

"O-Oh, right, that. It's actually doesn't hurt as much as last time." Izuku responded.

"I imagine breaking one finger hurts less than breaking all the bones in three limbs." Shoto deadpanned.

"Let us take a look at it," Tenya said. Though Izuku hesitated a bit, he eventually brought out his right hand in front of him. As the three teens examined the finger, the damage was clearly evident, with it being entirely covered in bruises and bent unnaturally. However, unlike yesterday, there was a faint green glow surrounding it. Izuku looked at it with unfiltered curiosity.

"Is that…"

"Yes, that glow is likely your Aura," Tenya responded to Izuku's question before he could finish asking it.

"So it's gonna heal up on its own?" Izuku asked.

"It should, yes. The damage looks about the same as yesterday, just on a smaller scale," Tenya responded.

"Your Aura might heal injuries, but broken bones will take a longer time to heal, probably most of the day. The glow is also your Aura focusing around the finger in order to stop any further damage from occurring." Shoto continued as Izuku shook his head, mentally taking in the information.

"You should be alright to stay for class, but you should definitely visit the Nurse's Office afterwords," Tenya concluded.

"Ruby and Weiss are up right now against two members of Team CRDL," Shoto said as he turned his gaze to the main screen.

"Oh yeah, they were up to fight right after us. How're they doing?" Izuku asked, wishing he had the chance to bring one of his notebooks with him.

"Right now they're fighting inside one of the Battleground's parks," Tenya responded

"They could be doing much better," Shoto added.

"Huh?!"

"Their teamwork is about on par with your and Katsuki's."

' _Oh gods…'_ Izuku thought to himself as he looked up at the screen.

* * *

 _On the Battlefield_

"Watch were you're aiming!" Ruby yelled as she dodged away from a stray shot of Fire Dust courtesy of Weiss' Myrtenaster.

"Quit complaining, it didn't even hit you!" Weiss yelled back.

Though Ruby would've liked to point out that that wasn't really the point of her statement, she didn't exactly have time to, seeing as she was in the middle of a fight.

Ruby jumped back several feet to dodge a swing from Sky Lark's Halberd, quickly firing off a shot from Crescent Rose which Sky managed to block. Ruby responded by using her Speed Semblance to charge right in front of Sky, taking a large swipe at him with the business end of her scythe. Sky barely managed to block the attack with the staff of his Halberd, forcing a stalemate as the two struggled to gain the upper hand. Though it looked like Sky was about to overpower Ruby, the silver-eyed girl fired off a shot from her weapon, giving her just enough force to knock Sky off his feet and send him flying several feet away…

Directly towards Weiss.

"Watch out!" Ruby yelled to her teammate. Weiss looked over to see the human projectile heading her way and just managed to roll forward to avoid Sky. Unfortunately, this left Weiss vulnerable to Russel Thrush, who managed to use his daggers to take two overhead slashes at Weiss' back. Unable to block the blow with Myrtenaster in time, Weiss was forced to tank the blow with her Aura. Before Russel could take another strike at her, Weiss managed to bring up a Glyph between the two of them, buying her time to create distance between the two.

"Out of my way, Ruby!" Weiss yelled out in frustration.

"It was an accident!" Ruby retorted.

"If you're too incompetent to fight, then you should leave and let me do this by myse-" Weiss was interrupted from her speech by Russel who had jumped into the air and began spinning forward at tremendous speeds. As he was about to come out of his tuck and roll, Weiss brought up another Glyph, causing the mohawked teen to bounce off the heiress' defense.

Before either of them could make another move, Weiss was suddenly taken off her feet by Sky, who used the curved end of his Halberd to sweep the Ice Queen's legs. As Weiss' back crashed into the ground, her previous Glyph broke, allowing both Sky and Russel the opportunity to attack the exposed heiress.

Their attacks never landed, however, as Ruby used her Speed Semblance to get to the three of them and take a horizontal swing with Crescent Rose, slicing into her two opponents' Aura and forcing them back.

Sky quickly recovered, running forward and taking a hatchet-like swing with his weapon at Ruby. Ruby jumped away, using her Semblance to ensure her safety, as the ground where she once stood was cracked and broken by the impact of Sky's attack.

However, Ruby's jump back ended up sending her straight into Weiss, who had just now managed to return to her feet.

"Watch where you're going!" Weiss yelled as she and Ruby tumbled to the ground, with Weiss trying to force Ruby off of her. Sky and Russel both looked at each other, confused as to how their opponents couldn't seem to avoid getting in each other's way. However, they chose not to let the opportunity slip by as both of them began sprinting towards their disoriented opponents, ready to-

" _ **Time's up!"**_

Russel and Sky both stopped dead in their tracks at All Might's words, instantly goings to check their Aura levels. As Ruby and Weiss managed to get up, with Weiss pushing her partner off of her, they also checked their Scrolls.

 _Ruby R. - 45%_

 _Weiss S. - 39%_

 _Total - 84%_

 _Russel T. - 42%_

 _Sky L. - 40%_

 _Total - 82%_

" _ **It's a close call, but the winners are Miss Rose and Miss Schnee!"**_

"Dammit." Sky said to himself as he and Russel began to walk back to the observation room. Ruby sighed to herself, relieved that she and Weiss managed to win, even if it was only by a hair's breadth.

"Man, that was a close one."

" _You_!" Ruby had no time to react as Weiss grabbed ahold of the collar of her outfit. "What in the world were you thinking! You threw your opponent _and_ yourself at me!"

"You're the one who almost set me on fire just now! Plus you had us running around in circles at the beginning of the match trying to find them. Why can't you just chill out for like two seconds?"

"Because I _refuse_ to have a child as my partner, let alone as a leader!" Weiss yelled before letting go of Ruby and storming off to the observation room. Ruby watched her leave with a look of anger and sadness on her face. After several seconds of standing, Ruby went along the same path the other three Hunters-in-training took, hanging her head in sadness.

* * *

 _Later, Match 5_

Jaune gasped as his breath was knocked out of him when landed on the ground, Corcea Mors' sword almost falling out of his grip. As he tried to pull himself, he saw his current opponent, a tall, orange-haired teen with a large, black mace.

"This is the part where you lose." Cardin sneered down at the blond swordsman.

"Over my dead-" Before Jaune could finish his retort, Cardin took a swing directly at him, leaving Jaune barely enough time to bring his shield up to block a direct hit. However, the blonde swordsman's poor footing caused him to be off-balance, allowing Cardin's swing to knock Jaune back several feet onto the ground.

Cardin leaped forward to deliver an overhead swing to Jaune, only for a flying Miló to crash into Cardin's ornate chest plate, sending him flying away from Jaune. Before the red and gold spear could hit the ground, and sprinting Pyrrha picked up the weapon without missing a beat, heading straight for Cardin and his partner, Dove Bronzewing, who was currently helping his leader get to his feet.

Cardin shook off Dove and took a swing at Pyrrha just as she came into range, an attack the Invincible Girl easily blocked with Akoúo̱. Before Cardin could take another swing, Pyrrha switched Miló into its sword form and took a quick slashing strike at Cardin. Dove took a swing with his own sword which Phyrra blocked with hers before throwing her ornate shield directly into Dove's chest, knocking him back a few feet. Rather than fall to the ground, the shield was covered with a thin, almost unnoticeable black glow before it ricocheted back to Phyrra's arm.

Cardin took a quick one-handed overhead swing which Pyrrha rolled away from, only for the impact of Carin's mace on the ground to cause an explosion. Cardin and Dove quickly took this lapse in Pyrrha's attacks to mount their own offensive, the two of them getting up close and personal with the redhead. However, no matter how many swings they took at her, and boy did they take a lot of swings, Pyrrha managed to block all of them, though some of their attacks seemed to just barely miss Pyrrha. After almost every attack they tried, Pyrrha would follow up with a quick stab or swing, never overextending her reach and ensuring she was always ready to block the next strike.

* * *

"Damn, Pyrrha's untouchable!"

Though Pyrrha was unaware of it, everyone in the observation room seemed to agree that "The Invincible Girl" was a title that she had in fact earned. Even Katsuki was impressed, as he did nothing during the whole exchange but look at the screen, almost forgetting to blink.

* * *

Eventually, Pyrrha took one last swing which caused Cardin's Aura to flicker rapidly, showing just how close it was to breaking completely. This swing sent Cardin to the ground to join Dove, whose Aura wasn't much better than his.

" _ **Team CRDL's Auras have reached critical levels. The winners are Miss Nikos and Young Arc!"**_

Cardin growled to himself after hearing All Might, slowly picking up his mace and walking back to the Observation Room, mumbling words to himself which Pyrrha could only assume were the kind you weren't supposed to use around little kids. Pyrrha sighed to herself as she placed her weapons on her back before turning as walking back to her partner who currently had his hands on his knees as he regained his breath.

"Are you alright, Jaune?"

"Yeah. Just a little winded."

"Sorry if I kind of went and did all the work by myself, it just looked like you… well…"

"Nah, don't sweat it," Jaune replied as he looked up at her, "I was just off my game today. Still, you were pretty amazing out there."

"O-Oh, really?" Pyrrha replied as she looked away to hide the blush growing on her cheeks.

"I mean, you took them both on by yourself with, like, no trouble. I can see why Weiss wanted you as a teammate so bad now."

"Thank you, Jaune," Pyrrha replied with an earnest smile.

"Come on, let's head back. I'm sure Ren and Nora will be glad our team got at least one victory today."

* * *

 _Later, Match 8_

 ***CLANG*CRASH*CLANG***

The vicious, heavy impact of metal on metal echoed through the mock city as the shots from Yang's Ember Celicas collided with Shoto's Frostfire. Shoto tried to block Yang's line of sight by putting up an ice wall between the two of them, however, Yang used her gauntlets to launch herself up over the barricade. Once she reached over the wall, she used another shot to launch herself directly at the half and half hunter.

Shoto managed to block the right hook that Yang sent at him with his sword, the contact of the two teens creating a shockwave with a loud boom. The force of the impact launched the two away from each other, with Shoto sinking his greatsword into the ground to halt his momentum. Yang, on the other hand, fired off even more round from her weapons so that she launched herself forward directly in front of her opponent. Yang capitalized on Shoto's surprise by taking swing after swing as Shoto barely managing to keep up, with a few of the buckshot pellets fired from Yang managing to scrape against his Aura.

"Looks like that oversized sword isn't doin' ya any favors here, pretty boy." Yang taunted as she threw another punch with her right hand. However, Shoto dodged to his right and grabbed Yang's arm at the base of Ember Celica. Before Yang could throw off his grip, Shoto snuck in between Yang's defense and delivered a strike with the pommel of Frostfire directly onto Yang's forehead, the blonde huntress feeling the full weight of the five and a half foot Zweihander on her skull. Yang staggered back a bit as although her Aura absorbed most of the blow, she still felt a decent impact on her head.

"You're right, my sword is difficult to use against people like you who try to get directly on top of me," Shoto responded as we brought his sword back behind him. "Which is exactly why I've trained to fight against people like you!" Shoto emphasized his words by swinging Frostfire in a sweeping arc, creating a large blast of ice heading directly toward Yang. The blonde was forced to quickly take half a dozen shots with her gauntlets to break through the ice, and even then, just barely. Yang gritted her teeth and quickly reloaded her weapons, with the slightest tint of red showing in her lilac eyes.

Nearby, a duel of swordsmen was taking place in a back alley as Tenya's Legacy clashed with Blake's Gambol Shroud. Tenya took a series of swings with his claymore at Blake, starting with a horizontal swing, then overhead, then a quick stab, then a diagonal, only for Blake to block every one of them with her sword. Blake switched Gambol Shroud into its dual-wield mode, immediately forcing her spectacled opponent into a deadlock with its sheath before attempting to slice Tenya with her katana. Though the strike was true, Tenya's Aura and heavy armor managed to tank the hit.

Tenya jumped back several feet while switching his own weapon into its heavy pistol mode before firing off three shots. While Blake used both parts of her weapon to stop two of the bullets respectively, the third one managed to hit Blake directly in the stomach…

Only for "Blake" to disappear into thin air once the bullet hit.

' _What?'_

Tenya had no time to think as Blake leaped at him the side, blade in hand with the tall teen barely having time to duck away from the strike. Before Blake could follow up with a second strike, the wind was knocked out of her by a blazingly quick kick to the gut from Tenya, a strike so strong it managed to knock her into the air and away from Tenya.

Blake managed to flip in midair and land on the ground, her left arm covering her stomach as she breathed heavily.

' _Guess Speed Semblance can be used in direct combat too. It doesn't seem quite like Ruby's though. She can turn her entire body into rose petals and move faster. He only seems to be able to increase the speed of his legs.'_ Blake thought as she once again brought the katana out of its sheath.

' _What's her Semblance? Does she teleport or can she make clones of herself? If they are clones they don't seem to be able to take any hits. If it's teleportation, she'll be able to escape from combat at any time. If that's the case then,'_ Tenya thinks as he lowers his stance ever so slightly and turned Legacy back into a sword. ' _I'll need to attack her so quickly that she can't react fast enough to teleport!'_

Tenya's legs begun to glow Blue as his Aura pumped more power into them. Before Blake could even process the glow, Tenya used his Semblance to speed towards her and take a powerful swing at her. Before the strike could land, Blake used her Semblance yet again to avoid the strike, though this time, Tenya managed to see Blake generate a clone which took the hit as she escaped.

' _So it_ is _producing a clone.'_ Tenya thought as he turned himself to face the bow-wearing girl. Tenya used his Semblance again to charge at Blake, who brought up her sheath to try and block to blow. However, Tenya's momentum overpowered her and launched away only to land flat on her back.

Tenya was about to follow up with another attack, however, he was quickly pulled off his feet by a force from his right leg, causing him to land on his back as well. As he forced himself up to look at his leg, he saw a black ribbon was wrapped around his leg with both ends of the ribbon in Blake's hand, who was now almost fully up on her feet. Tenya tried to follow suit, however, another quick yank from Blake managed to impede his efforts.

' _Must've tied me up during my last strike!'_

Tenya turned Legacy back into its pistol mode before taking several shots at Blake's arm with the last shot hitting the gun form of Gambol Shroud, knocking it out of her hand. Blake quickly went to pick her weapon back up, giving Tenya just enough time to untangle his leg from the ribbon. Blake used her Semblance to have her clone boost her at Tenya with a throw and taking a strike with her sheath which clashed against Tenya's breastplate, the impact knocking Tenya back right as he was about to get to his feet.

Before Blake could follow up a wave of ice came at her from her right forcing her to jump back, separating her from Tenya. As Tenya began to get up, Shoto ran up and helped him to his feet.

"You alright?" The half and half teen asked.

"For the most part yes. Did you eliminate Miss Xiao Long?"

"No, but I managed to trap her in an alley with ice. She'll likely break out soon but she doesn't know where we are. Let's finish off Blake and then deal with Yang after."

"Sounds like a plan. Shall we try to-" Before Tenya could finish his thought, Blake jumped over the wall of ice Shoto made and went to take a slice at her opponents. Shoto quickly responded by generating a spike of ice which stabbed into Blake in what felt like a split second, only for Blake to disappear right after.

"Is that her Semblance?"

"Yes. She's able to create clones of herself," Tenya responded quickly. Out of the corner of his eye, Tenya saw Blake sprint out the alleyway into the open street. "She's on the run!" Tenya said as he quickly sprinted after her with Shoto on his heels.

Once the two boys left the alleyway, Shoto immediately generated a wave of ice which traveled along the ground before jutting up as a giant wall in front of Blake, taking up the entire street and blocking her path. As she turned around to try and defend herself, she was meet with a speeding Tenya whose high-speed slash she barely managed to avoid. After missing Blake, Tenya jumped up and landed perpendicular on the ice wall before jumping off it and slamming his shoulder into Blake's back. Blake stumbled forward after the impact only to be hit by a heavy slash from Shoto's Frostfire. However, the slash went clean through Blake who yet again disappeared into the air.

"Damn!" Shoto yelled in frustration before feeling a searing pain as Blake kicked him directly in the back. The half and half teen stumbled forward, and before Blake could take a proper strike with Gambol Shroud, Shoto produced a pillar of ice right below Blake which launched her up into the air. Tenya tried to take several shots with Legacy, but Blake used her Semblance to produce a clone which she jumped off of to give herself one last boost and clear the ice wall, her Aura visibly beginning to flicker. ' _She's almost out of Aura. The impact of hitting the ground could take her out of the match complete if she lands poorly.'_ Shot thought to himself.

"Can you lower that wall?" Tenya asked

"No, but I can make a-" Shoto cut himself off and glared at the wall. ' _That's a lot of Aura..'_. "Get back!" Shoto yelled as he began to back away from the wall quickly.

"What's wrong?"

 ***BOOM!***

Tenya's question was quickly answered as a hole was blown through the ice wall, launching chunks of ice everywhere. Before the debris had even settled, Yang jumped out of the whole and launched herself straight at the two boys. Shoto moved forward, lowered his stance down, and brought up Frostfire to block the attack. When Yang made contact with the sword, Shoto barely withstood the attack, but he still managed to hold his ground. "Tenya!"

"On it!" Tenya yelled as he launched himself with his Semblance and kicked Yang straight in the stomach, launching her away from Shoto. Yang rolled on the ground before stopping the momentum by digging her hands into the ground.

' _Should be enough damage…'_ Yang though as she felt a familiar heat generate from her hair as her Semblance kicked in. Yang looked up to see Tenya charging her way, though when the boy saw that her eyes were now a burning red and her hair was on fire, a look of fear spread onto his face. Before Tenya could get away, Yang used her Semblance enhanced state to deliver a brutal punch to the gut right below Tenya's armor. The impact of the punch, combined with the entirety of the buckshot from Ember Celica connecting, almost completely broke Tenya's Aura and launched him all the way back past Shoto.

"Tenya!" Shoto yelled as he looked back at his partner in shock. This was a mistake though, as Yang used her newfound strength to launch herself at Shoto with unbelievable speed. Shoto tried to bring his sword up to block the blow, but a right hook from Yang launched Shoto to the right and away from Tenya, with Frostfire slipping out of Shoto's grip and landing out of reach. Shoto quickly tried to stand up and reached his hand into his belt, but Yang was already almost on top of him again, about to deliver the match's final-

" _Apologies…_ "

 ***FWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSSSSHHHHHH***

' _Why is so_ cold _now?'_ A dazed Tenya thought as he stumbled to his feet. When he eventually looked up, he was met with what he thought was a brand new Ice Age, as a towering glacier sized ice formation was right in front of him. Tenya turned to his right and saw that Shoto was standing up at what looked like the beginning of the ice formation, with his right side appearing to be covered in a thin layer of ice.

"Grr… Come on!" Tenya began to walk over to Shoto, only to see that right in front of him, Yang had been frozen mid-punch right in front of Shoto, her head and arm barely jutting out of the ice.

"You can make _that_ much ice at a time?!" Tenya asked in awe.

"Yes. But I had to use all the Ice Dust I had left."

"D-Don't think t-this is over, t-the match isn't-"

" _ **I'm calling the match there!"**_

"Damnit…" Yang uttered out in defeat at All Might's announcement.

" _ **Young Iida, Miss Belladonna, and Miss Xiao Long's Aura's have all reached critical levels. Since Young Todoroki is the only one who can still fight, Team MSKI wins!"**_

"You ok in there?" Blake asked as she slowly walked up to the other three.

"T-Think s-so. I-I can't really feel my fingers though." Yang responded with a slightly pained grin.

"Here," Shoto responded as he reached his left hand into his pocket and slowly walked forward, trying his best to hide the slight limp on his right side. Shoto brought out a crystal of Fire Dust from his belt and crushed it in his hand, feeling his right side be overcome by a feeling of warmth. A feeling he so greatly detested.

Shoto put his left hand on the ice in front of Yang, causing the ice around it to slowly melt. "You can heat things too?!" Yang yelled out in surprise.

"Yeah, I… I just _prefer_ to use my left side. Sorry for going overboard there." Shoto said quietly. Though he truly didn't wish to use this much of his power in the fight, the sight of a person with flaming hair charging at him must have pushed him over the edge.

* * *

 _In the Observation Room_

"Man, Shoto's Semblance is amazing!" Jaune said in complete awe.

"Even though he used his Semblance the most, and therefore draining his Aura, he was still the last one standing," Izuku responded.

"Do you think he just has a ton of Aura?" Jaune asked

"He probably has above average, but I believe you have more than he does, Jaune," Pyrrha responded.

"He probably trained to increase the amount of Aura he has, as well as learn to use his Semblance extremely efficiently," Izuku concluded.

"Wait, you can increase your Aura?" Jaune asked.

"Yeah! People usually do a combination of meditation and physical training with Aura in order to increase it. It's kind of like a muscle. The more you use your Aura, the stronger it will become over a long period of time. In Shoto's case, his training with Aura and Semblance put him on a whole other level compared to the rest of us." Izuku responded.

Behind the three of them, Katsuki was standing in the back, his gaze fixated on the ground, and biting his lip in frustration.

" **Alright, everyone!"** All Might said as he turned back to his students. " **That concludes today's class! You should all be proud of your individual performances. I'll take one more look over the footage from all eight matches and then send your teams their footages along with personal notes to improve each and every one of your skills. You're all dismissed!"**

As Izuku turned towards his partner, planning to ask if they should wait for their teammates, he saw that his partner was already out the door and heading back to Beacon's main campus, his vision completely fixated on the ground. While the rest of the class walked away, Izuku stood completely still.

' _Kacchan…'_

" **How's your finger, Young Midoriya?"** Izuku was brought from his thoughts by his mentor who'd now walked up to him and stood at his side.

"Huh? Oh, right. The pain's not nearly as bad as yesterday, and my Aura's been healing it for a while now."

" **Good to hear! You seemed to be deep in thought there. Something troubling you?"**

"O-Oh, i-it's nothing. It's just…"

" **Young Bakugo?"**

"He seemed really out of it after our match. I don't even think he's said a word since." Izuku said with a sigh.

" **Well, that's understandable. From everything you've told me about him, and what I've seen for myself, Young Bakugo seems to have quite the inflated ego. I know from experience that those egos tend to be quite fragile, and Beacon's just the place to break it. Later today I'll go talk to him and make sure he understands that this should be a learning experience for-"**

"A-Actually, All Might, I think I'll talk to him about it."

" **Huh?"** All Might asked, looking down at his pupil in surprise.

"I-I'm supposed to be the Team Leader, right? Plus he's my partner. I'll talk to him and make sure that we can both move forward together as Hunters." Izuku said with a look of surprising confidence on his face, leaving All Might befuddled before he eventually placed a hand on the young successor's shoulder.

" **Hahaha! When did you get so cool there, Young Midoriya?"** All Might said with a booming laugh, causing Izuku to blush in embarrassment. " **Before that, however, you should definitely go see Professor Peach and make sure everything heals correctly."** All Might then bent over and whispered into Izuku's ear. " **I'll meet you there once I wrap up everything I need to here."**

* * *

 _Later, Professor Peach's Office_

"You should be all good now!" Peach said to Izuku as he moved his now restored finger back and forth.

"Thank you, again, Professor. Your Semblance really is something else!" Izuku responded with a slight bow of his head.

"Eh, that was nothing. I've healed way worse injuries than that." Peach said in a somewhat proud tone as she walked over and sat down at the chair by her desk.

"Really? Like what?"

"Well, let's see…" Peach said, placing a thumb under her chin and looking up at the ceiling. "Obviously your injuries from yesterday. Those took a while but it was far from the worst. I have a hard time replacing something if it's already been lost, the most I can manage in that case would be a couple of fingers or an eye…"

When Peach looked back down at the green-haired teen, she saw him vigorously writing down in a notebook he got from Gods know where labeled ' _Huntsmen Analysis For the Future No. 7'_ and mumbling to himself.

' _You weren't exaggerating with the whole nerd thing, were you Toshinori.'_ Peach thought with an amused smirk on her face.

" **May I come in?"** As if on cue, the Symbol of Peace himself poked his head in through the doorway, pulling Peach and Izuku from their thoughts.

"Of course! It's just us in here by the way." Peach said. All Might nodded and stepped into the office before quickly closing the door behind him. The second it was closed, All Might was covered in a puff of smoke which quickly dispersed to reveal the man's true form, which looked even more skinny with his now oversized costume.

"Taking into account moving around the campus, I barely have enough time to teach a class." All Might said as he coughed into his hand. This lead Izuku to panic slightly and he quickly turned to Peach, only to find a look of… disappointment on her face?

"Ya know if it weren't for the fact that you were in that form, I'd hit you over the head right now." Peach said as if the fact that All Might was showing his true form to a _first-year student_ was as natural as could be. "First day of classes and he's already been here _twice_! What have you two been doing for the past year?" When Peach gestured to Izuku, she saw that he was in a look of complete shock with most of the color drained from his face. "Hold on, did you even tell him who else knows?"

"I… was about to get around to it." All Might said in slight embarrassment.

"W-W-Wait… other people _know_ I-I have One for All?" Izuku asked as he pointed to himself, still clearly shocked.

"Yeah, a handful do. Sorry for not telling you earlier, kid." All Might said as he walked over towards his student.

"H-How many? And who?"

"Only five others. Professor Ozpin's known about it since a couple of weeks after we started your training. Peach and Professor Goodwitch just learned I gave it to you last night after you passed the initiation, but they've known of its existence for a while. The other two aren't Beacon staff so to keep things as discrete as we can, they only know I've passed One for All on, they don't know you by name. There are other people who know it exists, but they don't know I've passed it on yet. Though I doubt they number more than a dozen"

"T-That many? How come they all know about it?" Izuku asked.

"Don't look so panicked there, kid." Peach said with a laugh. "It's not like we're telling anyone who will listen about your Semblance. Everyone who knows about it are all trustworthy people. Now I'm sorry to kick you out, but I need to talk with your mentor here for a bit."

"Chiyo, I'm fine, really. There's no need to-" The Symbol of Peace was cut off by a stern glare from the orange-haired nurse. "All right, fine. Sorry kid, we'll have to catch up later, I guess."

"O-Oh. Ok. I'll see you two around then." Izuku said with a mix of confusion and disappointment as he headed to get ready for his last class of the day.

"Next time try not to come to me with an injury." Peach said as Izuku stepped out of the office, closing the door behind him, leaving an uncomfortable silence in the room.

"I feel terrible for not telling him everything, but I don't want to overwhelm him." All Might said as he pulled up a chair and sat down with Peach behind her desk.

"If he knew everything, the kid might have a mental breakdown. Now let me see it." Peach said calmly. All Might nodded before lifting up his costume so that the injury on his left side was visible. Peach examined it for a second before placing her hand on the wound and activating her Semblance, a pink glow appearing around her hands and the point of contact with All Might's wound. "It doesn't look like it's gotten any worse, at least not more than we expected."

"So you still think I have a couple of years left?"

"Two or three. Four if you're pushing it. Hopefully teaching here instead of constant missions will buy us some more time."

"Good. that's a bit longer than what _he_ predicted, but hopefully, he was wrong for once."

After a brief silence, Peach turned her gaze to the ground.

"It's really that important to you, huh? Being that natural-born hero." Peach said solemnly.

"If people knew the truth, they'd come after me and Midoriya without rest. In this world, if people don't have someone to look up to, they're doomed to fall. Being a 'natural-born hero' is the responsibility that those with this power must bear."

"Well, if that's really what you believe, you need to make sure you train him well."

* * *

 _Later, Beacon Academy Dorms_

On the rooftops of one of Beacon's buildings, Katsuki stood staring off into the sunset which beautifully reflected off the nearby lake, trapped in his own thoughts.

" _Damn, Pyrrha's untouchable!"_

" _In Shoto's case, his training with Aura and Semblance put him on a whole other level compared to the rest of us."_

" _From now on, I refuse to be so much weaker than you! I will not weigh down our team!"_

"Kacchan!" Katsuki was taken from his thoughts by his partner (just thinking about that word made him pissed), who had joined him on the roof, though he was closer to the rooftop entrance, whereas Katsuki was about ¾ of the way to the edge of the roof.

"What?" Katsuki said in a slow, low tone that almost made Izuku jump out of his boots. The green hunter looked down and gulped.

' _Mom doesn't even know about it yet. I haven't told_ anyone _about it yet'_ Izuku thought to himself. Though he wasn't really struggling with what he wanted to say, his mind had been made up before he even found his partner.

"I-I've been thinking about what you asked yesterday. You wanted to know about my Aura." That got the blonde's attention, at least enough that he actually turned his head over his shoulder to look at Izuku. "I can't tell you everything, at least not right now, but I'll try to be as honest as I can. We're supposed to be partners, and I don't want to think I've been trying to hide things from you.

"My Aura and my Semblance, they were _given_ to me."

Katsuki turned to look at Izuku even more, his gaze fixated on his team leader.

"B-But don't ask who! I'm not allowed to say. I know it sounds like something out of a fairy tale, but I promise I'm not lying. Thing is; I still can't really control my Semblance yet, you've seen how it messes up my body." At this, Katsuki began to tremble in anger as he tried to hold back his rage.

"Me not being able to control it is part of why I didn't use it until the very end during the combat trial. It's also why I said what I said to you in between the fighting. But in the end, I had to rely on it to beat Ren and Nora, an achievement I honestly don't deserve for my first day at Beacon." Katsuki's rage grew further as he turned towards Izuku even more. "I know I'm a long way behind almost everyone here, but like I said back then, I won't weigh the team down." Izuku, having delivered this whole speech to the ground, finally looked his partner dead in the eye.

"I'll work until I've mastered this borrowed Aura, this borrowed Semblance, and then I'll be able to surpass you with my own power!"

"..."

"..."

On second thought, Izuku might have said a little too much about his Semblance.

' _Crapcrapcrapcrapcrap! I just wanted him to know I was tricking him but I-'_

"Do you really think I'm that stupid?" Katsuki's words interrupted Izuku's panicking as he turned to fully face the young successor, though the blonde's gaze was now the one focusing on the ground. "'Borrowed Power'? Don't talk to me like I'm some fucking moron. You wanna keep making a fool outta me, don't you? Did you just come here to rub in the fact that I would've lost the training exercise if it wasn't for you?!" Katsuki slowly began walking up to Izuku.

"And there's the fact that I got tossed around like a ragdoll in a two on one when that redhead could do it without breaking a sweat! And that half and half's ice attacks would completely overpower me in a fight! Damnit! Damnit! Damnit!" Katsuki stopped stepping forward about two feet away from Izuku, though his gaze was still on the ground.

"You made me listen to your stupid promise earlier so now you're gonna listen to mine!" Katsuki jolted his head up to Izuku, tears in the corners of his eyes. "From here on out, I'm gonna surpass every single person in our year! I'll surpass everyone in this whole damn academy! I will become the Number One Hunter, just watch me!"

Though Izuku hesitated for a moment, he steadied his gaze into his partner's already firey eyes. Katsuki then moved forward and walked towards the exit, the two of them maintaining eye contact until the grenadier had by the successor. "You better enjoy your victory over me today cause it's last you'll ever get," Katsuki said as he walked out the exit from the rooftop back into the main hallway. Once he was out of earshot, Izuku let out a heavy sigh and fell straight onto his butt, almost in a nervous sweat.

' _Guess that went about as well as I could've hoped for, seeing as he didn't try to hit me. Still, I probably let out a little bit more than I should.'_ Izuku turned his gaze back to the same sunset his partner had, though now the Sun was almost completely set, the Shattered Moon almost ready to ascend into the night. ' _I'm not too worried about it though. I trust Kacchan not to go blabbing about what I said even if he_ did _believe me.'_

' _Better head back to the dorm and make sure everyone reviews their notes from All Might and everything else we got from our classes today. In the end, I suppose my first day as Team Leader could've gone a lot worse.'_

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **That concludes Chapter 7!**

 **FYI: There are some Manga Spoilers in this A/N for MHA Season 4 as well as spoilers for stuff that just came out (Chapters 218-around 240). I'll put another warning before each of them, and the reviews will be spoiler-free.**

 **Chapter Commentary:**

 **-One thing I think I've learned in my writing is that fight scenes are the worst. It's not necessarily that I have a hard time choreographing it (though that can be pretty annoying), it's more so that I have a hard time finding the right inspiration for a fight, or the right direction to take it in. Kinda shot myself in the foot when I chose to write about two battle shounen. I think it'll get better though.**

 **-Speaking of the fights, I'm both happy and disappointed with them. I'm happy cause I think what I have there is fine, I just feel like I could have added more, especially in regards to the Pyrrha fight, though I think the last fight was good all around. Then again, I didn't ever intend on them being as long as the one from last chapter, so maybe I'm just being overcritical.**

 **-Izuku got a taste of the giant conspiracy and lies around Remnant courtesy of one Professor Ozpin this chapter. Though I'm not 100% sure how I'll have Izuku adapt to joining the inner circle (though that will take a lot of time), I am excited to write it out. This might just be me, but I feel like Izuku might feel the tiniest bit of betrayal at All Might for not telling about how many people know about OfA. I don't how much I'll ever go into that, if at all, but I feel like knowing that OfA isn't only a secret between him and All Might would make him feel a lot less bad about telling Bakugo his power was passed onto him. He definitely won't hold a grudge again All Might though.**

 **-MANGA SPOILERS FOR SEASON 4 IN THIS PARAGRAPH!**

 **For those of you who've read the Manga, you should know whose prediction I was referencing in the conversation between All Might and Peach. Don't expect to see him anytime soon though.**

 **-MANGA SPOILERS FOR Chapters 218- Around 240!**

 **This most recent Arc, the Mutant Liberation Army Arc, is just now concluding and it honestly might be my favorite arc in the entire series. I love the way it delves into the minds of our antagonists, especially when we learn more about Shigaraki. I also really enjoyed the MLA as a whole (it makes me sad that the White Fang weren't nearly as good of a secondary villain group in RWBY). Which is why it pains me to say I have no clue where to put them in this story. With the loose way I have the story set up so far, I wouldn't be able to fit it in until after the Battle of Haven, but at that point, I think it would feel like too big of a tangent. I'll probably just have to take the character elements for the members of the LoV and adapt them into this story. But rest assured, Doctor Ujiko and Gigantomachia are gonna have a field day with our heroes at some point. Just you wait.**

 **NO SPOILERS BEYOND THIS POINT**

 **Reviews-**

 **MarvelNinja10- Glad you enjoyed the fight! Izuku will learn Full Cowl before the tournament. How much before? You'll have to wait and find out.**

 **1jesus- Thanks!**

 **Miguel Castro- Glad you're enjoying things so far. I'll make sure to keep your suggestions in mind.**

 **ADTLewis123- As with the last review, I'll keep those suggestions for pairings in mind.**

 **Gildas13579- You can expect to see more moments between Izuku and Weiss in the near future, I just needed to set things up with other characters these past chapters, so their relationship had to be put on the backburner. Won't give any specifics here though.**

 **Trey Alexander- All the reasons you said are pretty much exactly why that fight was hard to write. Glad you enjoyed it. I'll also keep your suggestion of Rivals/Friends in mind.**

 **I'll see you guys next time when we get into the USJ Arc!**


	8. Know Your Enemy

**I do not own RWBY nor My Hero Academia all rights belong to Monty Oum and Kohei Horikoshi and their respective publishing companies.**

 **I do not own the cover image.**

 **Chapter 8: Know Your Enemy**

* * *

 _4:00 A.M., Forever Fall Forest_

Overall, Toshinori concluded working at Beacon wasn't so bad. His workload was extremely reasonable, only teaching about two to three classes a week. He was fine with this for many reasons.

The most obvious being his damn time limit. In the past year, it hadn't been decaying severely, but he was still left with only three hours of Hunter work a day.

The second was that he had more time each day to train with Izuku. In the past few weeks since Initiation, he'd helped his successor improve significantly in regards to his hand to hand combat skills, though he still wasn't as good in combat as his classmates. While they'd also put in a significant amount of work with the boy's Aura and Semblance, his progress with One For All left a bit to be desired, not that this stopped wither of them from ding their damnedest to improve his skills. Toshinori just hoped they wouldn't have to call in his old mentor to help him out. Too scary.

The last reason was, regrettably, Toshinori needed that time to plan out his lessons and make sure he was actually teaching his students something valuable. Turns out he wasn't as much of a natural teacher as he was a Hunter. Speaking of his Hunter work...

" **BEACON SMAAASH!"**

The Number One Huntsman's signature call was followed by a boom as his punch eviscerated yet another Creature of Grimm. Toshinori shook his wrist as the black smoke cleared.

" **That one stung a little. Guess I have been at it for a while now."** The Symbol of Peace said to himself. _**It's almost sunrise now,**_ he thought, _**I must not have that much time yet. Probably just under half an hour.**_ Toshinori turned away from the small clearing his punches had made and walked West. He had time to do one last quick check before he returned to campus. _**I'll have to miss training with the students today. I would've liked to oversee their training and try to help out. Especially with Young Midoriya and Miss Rose. Their teams, specifically with their partners, aren't gelling together as well as their comrades. I'm sure Mr. Aizawa will be able to help them with that, at least.**_

 _ **Oz was right though, the Grimm are getting a bit more reckless. It's nothing our students couldn't handle in smaller chunks, but not in these large numbers. It wasn't as bad a week ago. Something or someone must be making them come this way...**_

* * *

 _Later That Day_

"Alright, let's get this over with." The tired as ever looking Aizawa said.

He spoke to the various team leaders gathered up at the front of a medium-sized airship heading for one of Beacon's off-site training facilities. "The place we're going to is called the Beacon Rescue Training Center. As the name entails, it's designed to help you learn how to properly rescue civilians in a variety of environments. Of course, we won't be using actual civilians. Instead, we'll be using Atlesian Knight-130s as stand-ins. They're a pretty outdated model, but they should get the job done.

"There are several zones to simulate multiple combat scenarios which each team will go through. These are the orders you'll start out in; JNPR will go to Shipwreck, CRDL to Landslide, RWBY to Fire, and MSKI to Earthquake. If you have any questions, I suggest you ask before we get there."

With that, Aizawa walked back towards the cockpit of the Airbus, leaving the leaders to themselves in their seats.

"This is gonna be AWESOME!" Ruby yelled as she pumped her arms into the air. "We get out of all our boring classes for a whole _day_ and get to spend it on actual Hunter stuff!"

"Yeah, it is pretty exciting stuff." Izuku nodded in agreement. "I think our professors might disagree with the importance of their classes though…"

"Don't be a party pooper, Izuku! I mean sure, Oobleck and Yamada's may _say_ their classes are 'important' and all, but come on! Do you honestly believe a Pro Hunter's ever gonna need to know how to analyze a quote from some stupid book or know what some random law passed a hundred years ago did?!"

"W-Well, when you put it that way, I-I guess it wouldn't really matter on the battlefield. But in general, the better educated you are in stuff like that, the better off you'll be in making decisions off the battlefield." _And I've liked all the books we've read so far._ Izuku thought to himself.

"Well, they could at least make the classes more fun! They won't even let me take out Crescent Rose during class! Besides, who'd ever want to be off the battlefield anyway?" Although Izuku was going to respond to Ruby's slightly off-putting statement, he became distracted by the fact that it was only the two of them in this conversation when there were more than two people in the room (Well, Cardin was there too, but he had situated himself as far away from them as possible).

"Is something up, Jaune?" Izuku asked.

"Huh?!" Jaune almost jumped out of his seat at Izuku's words.

"S-Sorry for scarring you. I-It's just… you've been kinda off for the past few days. Is something up?"

"Yeah, come to think of it, you haven't been at lunch the past two days either. What's up?" Ruby added.

"R-Really guys, I'm fine! It's just, ya know, adjusting to the whole 'leader' thing. Don't worry about it."

"O-Oh, yeah, I guess I can understand that," Izuku said, still skeptical of his friend's answer.

"Well, if that's the case, you've got two fellow leaders here ready to help!" Ruby said in a cheery tone.

"Yeah, friends are supposed to help each other out," Izuku said.

"Yeah… that's what friends do." Jaune said as he looked down slightly.

" _We're here. Grab your bags and make your way over to the facility's main entrance."_ Aizawa's voice echoed over the intercom.

Jaune quickly grabbed his belongings and walked out the exit, leaving Ruby and especially Izuku confused and worried.

 _Several Minutes Later_

Upon entering the BRTC, Izuku was reminded of just how much money went into the Hunter Academies. The giant dome-shaped building was filled will a variety of zones for usage in training, each one just under the size of a football field. Needless to say, the four teams were left in awe at the sight before them.

"Hello, students!" said the Huntress who stood before them at the top of the stairs dressed in what looked like a giant spacesuit with a black helmet. "I've been waiting all morning for you."

"It's the Space Hunter Thirteen," Izuku whispered to himself, "she's so awesome."

"Thirteen," Aizawa walked up to the Huntress until he was within whisper range of her, "Where's All Might? He was supposed to meet us here."

"He contacted me just a bit ago. Seems he reached his _limit_ earlier this morning." Thirteen whispered back while discretely holding up three fingers, a gesture Izuku barely managed to catch.

"He may be the most irrational person I've met," Aizawa responded. "Regardless, let's get started."

"Anyways, welcome to the BRTC!" Thirteen said to the students. "I was in charge of designing this entire facility and will be running most of your trials today. I've been told your Team Leaders were already given your assignments as to where you'll be starting off. Before we get to that though, we'll go over the basics that will be in each trial. You'll have to rescue several AK-130s placed in random…"

As Aizawa began to drone out Thirteen's talk he felt an odd presence from behind him as it felt like the air temperature dropped. ' _Bloodlust?'_ Aizawa turned around and looked into the central plaza of the BRTC. What he saw was a small floating black dot. As he took a closer look at it, it started to grow bigger and bigger in size.

Some of the more astute students felt the change in the air as well, namely Shoto, Blake, Ren, and Pyrrha. Thirteen turned around part-way through her explanation to see that from the black dot had emerged the head of a sickly pale man whose face was covered by a hand.

"Don't move!" Aizawa ordered.

"W-Wait, I thought we were supposed to be rescuing robots, not people," Jaune said with great concern.

"Stay back!" Aizawa yelled as he brought his yellow goggles over his eyes. "Those are criminals!"

The young students watched in horror as dozens upon dozens of villains began to emerge from the void of a portal. Though each one of them appeared dangerous in their own right, some stood out more than others.

The first villain to appear from the portal had the most unique outfit of them all, that being fourteen fake, at least Izuku hoped they were fake, hands covering various parts of his body, including his face. The rest of his attire was simple plain black clothing covering his unhealthily pale skin.

The next one which drew the student's attention was the largest within their group. They were so large, bulking and black half of the students thought they were looking at an Ursa Major. However, the bird-like beak and the exposed brain with protruding eyes told them that this person was a living person. At least it had been living at some point.

The last member to draw their attention was the portal itself, which had now manifested piercing yellow eyes.

"Hmmm, Eraserhead and Thirteen. Our information suggested that All Might was supposed to be here as well. How unfortunate." The dark mist spoke causing Aizawa to grit his teeth.

"The boss is a no show?" The hand faced man said in a raspy voice. "But we came all this way and brought so many Companions. That's so unfair. I wonder…"

"Will some _dead kids_ bring him here?" The sickly man finished, sending shivers down the spines of the students.

 _What do they want with All Might?!_ Izuku thought fearfully.

"These people must be dumbasses if they're trying to attack Beacon!" Cardin said.

"Aren't there sensors around this place to pick up intruders?" Weiss asked frantically.

"Of course we have sensors, they should have gone off by now!" Thirteen responded.

"They probably disabled them before coming here," Blake said.

"They picked a time to attack when only a few people would be here, and we're far away from the main campus. These people might not be as dumb as they look. If they've made such a well-coordinated attack, they must have a reason." Shoto said.

"Thirteen, evacuate the students and get in touch with the main campus! They probably have a short-range jamming device setup, but there's still a chance we could reach them. I'll go and deal with these intruders." Aizawa said as he marched forward, hand gripping his Binding Cloth.

"Wait, Mr. Aizawa!" Izuku called out, "There's no way you'll be able to take all those people on by yourself! Your Semblance and fighting style are meant for working in stealth situations, in a head-on battle-"

"You can't be a pro if you only have one trick."

With those short words, Aizawa jumped into the fray, giving one last message telling Thirteen to watch after the students. Though Izuku struggled to keep up with the flow of battle, it was clear that his teacher was more than capable of handling himself. Eraser Head weaver through the mob of thugs he found himself in, taking out most of them with a single swift kick or punch, his hair sticking up as he did so.

"We need to get out of here!" Jaune yelled.

"Follow me, students!" Thirteen yelled as she turned around towards the exit, only to find that the portal that now sported eyes was already behind them.

"I'm afraid that won't be happening." The mist said.

 _He teleported up there in the split second I blinked._ Aizawa thought. _These guys are dangerous._

"Hello aspiring Hunters, we are the Grim Legion." The mist continued. "Pardon our intrusion, but when we heard All Might was joining Beacon Academy's Staff we couldn't help ourselves but to pay him a visit. After all, what place could serve as a more fitting tomb for the Symbol of Peace?"

 _What?_ Izuku and many other students thought.

"Sadly, it seems that All Might isn't in attendance. Regardless, I still have a job to do."

Before the mist man could continue, Ruby, Yang, and Katsuki all charged at the figure, delivering a slash, shotgun blast, and explosion respectively.

"Not if you die first!" Katsuki yelled.

"Didn't see that coming, did ya?" Yang taunted.

"A close call." The mist said as it reformed itself into its original shape. "You may be first-year students, but you clearly aren't pushovers." As the mist spoke, its figure grew rapidly in size.

"Get back!" Thirteen ordered.

"BEGONE!" The mist yelled out as its figure quickly enveloped Thirteen and the students. "Writhe in torment… until you breathe your last breath…"

* * *

 _?_

The first thing Izuku felt after being freed from the void was that it was suddenly very very hot. This made sense, seeing as he was about to fall into fire.

"Whaaa!" Was the most rational thing he could think to say as the young successor quickly plummeted towards a raging inferno. Acting on pure instinct, he loaded an Ice Dust Disk into his right Peacekeeper and fired off as many ice blasts as he could. While this did stop the fire from burning in the exact spot where he was about to fall, he was still falling. Izuku brought up his Aura as fast as he could and angled his fall so he wouldn't hit his head. His impact on the ground was hard, but he didn't think anything was broken.

He quickly tried to assess his surroundings and figure out what was going on. He found himself now inside of a building with several small, concentrated fires inside of it, none of them being particularly close to Izuku. The building was rather empty and hollow, resembling a small parking garage with only one floor and a high up ceiling.

 _Those people, the Grim Legion, they're here to kill All Might?! But how? There's no way they could have the strength to kill him! But what if they do? If they have multiple All Might-level fighters, then we're all gonna-!_

 _Dammit! Don't think like that Izuku! Focus on what you do know, not hypotheticals. That Mist Man teleported you somewhere, which means everyone else is probably in the same boat. This place looks like the Conflagration Zone Thirteen began describing before they showed up. I should try to see if anyone else-_

"Found ya!" Izuku nearly jumped out of his skin as an unknown voice yelled out to him. Izuku turned to his left to see four criminals staring him down. Three of them were human while another one appeared to be a lizard Faunus based on his tail. Two of them were armed with small pistols, another had a shortsword, and the Faunus carried a two-sided ax.

"Nothing personal kid, but we've got a job to do." One of the other men said as he raised his pistol. Izuku quickly fired off another blast of Ice Dust, this time right at the feet of the criminals. Three of them managed to jump out of the way and avoid the Ice while one of them was unfortunate enough to be caught in the icy blast, his entire body up to his chest being frozen over, his arms unable to move.

"Hey, get me out of this!"

"Just wait till we kill this kid!" The Faunus yelled out. The thug with the short sword charged Izuku at full speed. Izuku tried to fire off another shot of Ice Dust, but nothing came out as the ice which covered his glove slowly receded.

 _Out of ammo?!_

Izuku ducked as the thug slashed at his head horizontally. As the thug took another swing, Izuku reached out and grabbed at the wrist of the arm he held the sword in. Izuku squeezed hard, forcing the thug to drop his sword on the ground. Izuku delivered a swift punch to the man's gut, resulting in him doubling over from the impact.

Before Izuku could do anything else, one of the other thugs fired off a shot that whizzed by Izuku's head. The inheritor jumped back instantly, using his Aura to increase his strength and quickly make his way behind one of the building's pillars, out of the gunman's line of sight. He reached into his belt and grabbing another disk of Ice Dust. Before he could load it into his gloves, he found an ax burying its way into the pillar and almost chopping his head off.

Izuku tucked and rolled away from the pillar as the Faunus slowly pulled his ax from it. The other thug, having picked his sword back up, charged Izuku yet again. Izuku rolled away from the man as he went for an overhead swing, his blade digging into the concrete. As the Faunus ran at Izuku, ready to swing, Izuku ran to meet him, getting within the range of the ax's blade. As the Faunus went in for a swing Izuku grabbed his arm and lifted him over his head before throwing and slamming him down into the back the thug attempting to pull his sword out from the ground. The one with the sword had the wind knocked out of him while the Faunus took a hard hit to the head. Neither of them was in fighting shape anymore.

Before Izuku could celebrate his win, he turned on instinct to see the last thug had his sights set right on Izuku and was just out of arm's reach. Izuku almost froze completely. Realizing he had no way to avoid the shot, he summoned up as much Aura as he could and hoped it would be able to tank the hit. However, a glowing blue Glyph appeared at the man's feet, followed by him being engulfed in ice which traveled all the way up to his neck.

"The hell?!" The man yelled in surprise.

"You can thank me later." Izuku turned to see Weiss standing a few yards away, Myrtenaster pointing directly at the man she'd just frozen.

"Weiss! Man, thank goodness. For a second there I thought I was all alone." Izuku responded with a sigh of relief.

"So did I. When I heard the sounds of fighting I came over to investigate. Do you have any idea where we are?"

"I think we're still inside the building; in Conflagration Zone. Maybe everyone else is here too."

"I doubt it," Weiss said, "We'd hear more fighting nearby if they were, especially if either of our… _partners_ were here."

 _She found a way to take a jab at Ruby and Kacchan in a time like this?_

"You kids talk it up all you want, you're still gonna die here. Especially you, _Schnee_." The Faunus thug said as they were still incapacitated on the ground.

"Hmpf. I have no interest in listening to criminals like _you_ run their mouths." Weiss said coldly. The way she spoke caused a lump to form in Izuku's throat. "Do you have anything we could use to tie them up?"

"Huh? O-Oh, yeah, I-I think I've got some rope somewhere." Izuku said as he reached into one of the pockets of his jacket, fumbling over his words.

 _How can someone be a Team Leader and yet show no signs of self-confidence?_ Weiss thought to herself.

After a few minutes of work, and varying degrees of resistance from the thugs, Weiss and Izuku had all four criminals tried up to one of the room's various pillars.

"Now that that's over with, we should probably try to get back to the entrance and find Thirteen and Mr. Aizawa," Weiss said.

"Y-Yeah sounds good."

"I heard the shot got off over here." Weiss and Izuku both jumped as they heard a far off voice from outside the building.

"You positive?" That voice sounded closer.

"Come on, hurry," Weiss whispered as she ran away from the voice out one of the building's back exits, followed quickly by Izuku. The two of them stopped their escape about two buildings down from where Izuku had been teleported to. After hopping inside a small building, they both peeked out one of its windows into the Conflagration Zone's main alley.

Right in front of their previous building stood just over a dozen more criminals, each one of them armed. One of them stood out more than the rest, that being a large hulking, bearded man with a black, two-handed sword strapped onto his back. He seemed to be to one dealing out orders as the thugs began to look for the two Hunters-in-Training.

"Well great," Weiss whispered. Izuku turned away from the alley to look at her.

"D-Do you think we can take them in a straight fight?" Weiss turned towards him.

"Maybe, but it won't be easy. That big guy looks like he probably has Aura, so he won't be super easy to take down. We should just run and find our teachers."

"You think so?"

"Of course," Weiss responded, "We're students. We should just leave this to the Professionals. Besides, I'm sure help is already on the way." Izuku stood for a moment, thinking on Weiss' words before taking another quick glance back at the criminals.

 _That Mist Man said they were here to kill All Might, and they seemed to know about Beacon's schedule. But why isn't All Might here in the first place... did he reach his time limit? Thirteen did put up three fingers before she started talking. If that's the case, help might not be here for a while. And if these people really are that organized, and are planning to kill All Might, they might be too much for Mr. Aizawa and Thirteen to handle on their own._

 _We may need to lighten the load._

"...uku? Izuku!" Weiss had to almost yell in order to get the boy to snap out of his train of thought.

"Huh?"

"You started zoning off. Now come on, let's go." Weiss said motioning to one of the building's back exits. Izuku still didn't move, placing his hand to his chin as he thought. Once he remembered just how hot it was inside this zone, he had an idea.

"I've got a plan, follow me!" Izuku said as he ran towards a different room in the building.

"Where are going?!" Weiss whispered as loudly as she could. "Idiot." She said to herself before going after him.

* * *

 _Elsewhere_

"Is that really the best showing you can give?"

Shoto's words were met by a silence broken only by the small cracking of ice as he stepped over his handiwork. When he regained his vision after being warped he found himself inside what he assumed to be the Landslide Zone. He was surrounded by a dozen more thugs, all armed and ready to kill Shoto. Of course, that didn't happen, since they were trying to kill Shoto. Now they were all frozen over in a thick sheet of ice, having taken Shoto mere seconds to do so.

"Shouldn't adults be able to handle a mere student?" The teen asked rhetorically, only to be met by shocked whispers and insults from his foes. "Looks like divide and conquer wasn't the best strategy for you guys. You have no clue what you're doing."

"Nice work." Shoto quickly turned over his Shoto, hand gripping Frostfire as he looked up to see his bow-wearing classmate standing behind him.

 _I didn't even sense her Aura when we got warped here. Has she been here this whole time?_ Shoto thought.

"Sorry if I startled you, I'm just glad I'm not the one dealing with your Semblance this time," Blake said as she walked down the side of the incline towards the half and half Hunter. Shoto released his grip on Frostfire and turned back towards the frozen thugs.

"They didn't exactly put up much of a fight. At first, I thought they were elite fighters who might try to overpower All Might with their numbers. But now, it looks like most of them are simply fodder."

"Makes sense. People who have enough power to go up against Pro-Hunters don't like taking orders from others. It makes them harder to organize than low-level thugs." Blake said. Shoto questioned her knowledge on the subject but figured he would ask about it later. Besides, it wasn't the most out-there conclusion.

"I figure there are still a couple of strong ones among them, at least three or four."

"We'll just have to keep our guard up then," Blake said as she began to walk down towards the entrance of the BRTC. Shoto followed close behind, reaching into his left pocket and grabbing a small warm crystal before crushing it in his hand. His body warmed up in a couple of seconds, allowing him to keep up easier with his more nimble companion.

As the two of them approached a ledge that dropped down about twenty feet, Blake stopped dead in her tracks. Shoto picked up his pace. "What's the matter?" He asked. Blake flinched before grabbing him by the jacket and pulling him and herself down to the ground. He opened his mouth again, but Blake placed her hand over his mouth.

Shoto followed Blake's gaze until he saw a group of people standing at the bottom of the drop. There were five of them, each one of them dressed in a white buttoned coat with black bottoms. The most telling feature of their outfits was the grayish-white mask with bone-like coverings. Only one group of people wore masks like that.

The White Fang.

Shoto wasn't extremely familiar with the White Fang. While they had a decent presence in his home kingdom, they rarely if ever operated within the Main City of Mistral, instead opting to work on the outskirts of Mistral's territory. Plus, their tactics had only gotten more aggressive in the past few years, well within the point where Shoto's life was engulfed with nothing but training.

Blake's face was pale, her eyes wide as she stared down at them. Shoto looked back and forth between her and the Fang members. Eventually, he focused his attention on the conversation the masked Faunus were having.

"I was expecting to hear a lot more fighting." One of them said.

"Who knows, maybe the kids just curled up in a ball and let those human thugs kill them." Another joked, getting a small laugh from the others.

"Guess we should go talk to that hand-faced guy now. I wanna get this work with the humans over as soon as possible." One said.

"Won't they ask us to help out?" Another asked.

"No." Shoto looked down the face of the ledge to see a sixth member he'd missed before. The man looked like he was in charge if his larger, red-accented mask was anything to go by. He was bulky, and Shoto couldn't figure out what kind of Faunus he was. The man's choice of weapon was a massive chainsaw strapped to his back.

"We're done here." The chainsaw user said. "If All Might's a no show then there's no reason for us to be here. We only agreed to work with the Humans to see him killed, after all." The man reached into his jacket and grabbed his Scroll before sending a quick text. After half a minute passed, a black portal opened up in front of them. "This will take us back to the camp. Let's go." The other members followed him into the portal. Even after they'd all gone, Blake refused to move.

"They're gone. We should be safe to keep moving forward." Blake didn't register Shoto's words. "Hey," Shoto said, placing a hand on Blake's shoulder. Blake flinched at the contact before shaking her head.

"I'm fine, let's go," Blake said as she shot up and began to walk left, looking for a way to get past the twenty-foot drop, avoiding any eye contact with the half and half teen. Shoto slowly got up and followed after Blake, keeping a close eye on her as they continued their walk.

"Hang on," Shoto called, causing Blake to jump slightly as she turned around. "Those White Fang guys," As Shoto continued, Blake's face became paler, and he could've sworn her bow flinched. "If they've brought White Fang in, they might be more organized than we thought. Let's go try to get some answers out of the people I already froze." Shoto pointed back with his thumb towards where they'd first met up.

"Oh, y-yeah, sure." The color began to slowly return to her face. Shoto turned around and began to walk back up towards the newly formed human-popsicles at the top of the zone, Blake following close behind.

 _Maybe getting some answers from them will make her a little less anxious. And if not, I could always recommend some pressure points to help._

* * *

 _Elsewhere_

"DIE!" Katsuki shouted as he used his Semblance to blow away yet another thug, launching him back into a pillar.

"Think that's the last of 'em," Yang said as she took a moment to catch her breath.

The two blondes found themselves teleported into the Ruins Zone and were quickly surrounded by members of the Grim Legion ready to kill the young teens. However, their numbers proved ineffective against their superior opponents.

"Well, if we're all done here, we should probably go try to help the others," Yang said. "If we're still here then they must be too. We need to find our teams and get back to the teachers. If Ruby has one scratch on her..."

"If you two wanna do that, go ahead. I'm gonna go blast that Mist Man too hell." Katsuki said.

"You're joking, right? Last time we did that our attacks didn't do anything to him? Are you seriously trying to stroke your own ego at a time like this?"

"Shut up! I'm gonna take him down because he's their exit. If I cut off their escape route then they're done for! Besides, I've already got a plan!"

"Oh really? And what might-"

 ***BOOM***

Yang was cut short by another one of the grenadier's explosions as he knocked out a thug who'd tried to sneak up from behind. "If all we have to worry about are mooks like these guys, our teammates will be fine."

"I'm impressed. Didn't know you knew how to act calm and rational, Kac~chan." Yang teased.

"I'm always calm and rational you blonde bimbo!" Katsuki yelled as Yang laughed. "Go hunt down everyone else if you want, I'm going to find the criminals."

"Don't go off without me. If you'd even admit Izuku could handle these guys then ok, I'll come along." Yang said, causing Katsuki to grit his teeth at the mention of his partner. "Now, what's this plan you've got?"

* * *

 _Conflagration Zone_

Weiss crouched behind the corner of a building, hiding from the main road within an alleyway. She furrowed her brow in frustration as she waited. _That dolt had better be ready. I swear if I die executing_ his _plan I'm going to haunt him._

Weiss pulled out her Scroll and used the camera to look around the corner. She saw four criminals, including the large one with the sword, walking in her direction about twenty-five feet from her. A ways behind them were two more thugs.

 _Here goes nothing._

The heiress triggered Myrtenaster's Dust cylinder until it loaded Fire Dust. Weiss peeked around the corner and used her sword in conjunction with her Semblance to produce four red Glyphs below each of the criminals closest to her. The explosions quickly went off, producing a thunderous boom. Weiss stepped out and rounded the corner to check her handiwork. As the smoke cleared, she saw three of the criminals had been taken out. The large one, however, had managed to dodge, suffering only slight burns.

And now he had his sights set on her.

Weiss summoned up three more explosive Glyphs all below the man, but he managed to roll away from each of them and was running right towards her, sword in hand. The heiress sent a direct blast of fire from Myrtanster before preparing herself for a close-quarters duel. The man was fit by the fire, but rather than be burnt, his Aura tanked the hit, causing little damage.

Weiss tried to surprise the man by rushing forward and going for a quick stab with Myrtenaster, but the man dodged to the left narrowly. The thug capitalized on Weiss' poor footing by digging a fist quickly into her gut, launching her back. He then went for a swing with his sword which Weiss rolled out of. She then went for a series of quickly slashes at the man's chest, sneaking in past his defenses and giving him several slashed though his clothes and drawing small amounts of blood, despite the work of his Aura. The man took a step back before taking a big swing at Weiss, forcing her to jump back to take a quick breather. _He's no weakling, and he's got a strong Aura._

The man reached into his pocket and pulled out a throwing knife. He threw it at Weiss, but the heiress simply sidestepped it. What she failed to notice, however, was that the knife glowed a bright red. The red hue of Fire Dust.

The throwing knife exploded behind Weiss, launching her forward and forcing her Aura to take a huge hit. As Weiss flew forward, the thug took a swing with his sword set the bisect the girl. Weiss, acting on instinct, brought up a Glyph between the two of them. However, the swordsman had enough force to swing through the Glyph and dig into Weiss' stomach. Weiss' Aura began to shimmer at an alarming rate as she was sent back from the force of the impact.

As the man slowly walked up and prepared to end the heiress then and there, an explosion went off directly in his face, sending him back several yards. As Weiss began to pull herself up, she felt two hands pull her up to her feet.

"You ok?" Izuku asked.

"Y-Yeah, of c-course I'm fine," Weiss said through gritted teeth as she picked up Myrtenaster.

"Good cause I've got the rest of them behind me and we need to run." Izuku grabbed Weiss's arm and began to run with her in tow. The heiress turned over her shoulder to see that the swordsman she'd been fighting and the goons behind him who she hadn't hit initially were on their tails, along with several other goons who had been tailing Izuku. The ones she had hit were also following them, though they weren't nearly as fast.

"I heard some explosions go off. You were really fighting against that big guy?" Izuku asked.

"He has a lot of Aura, the plan might not work if he's at full power. Do you remember the way to the spot?"

"Yeah, it's this way," Izuku said the two of them rounded a corner into a back alley. "I-I think they're gaining on us," Izuku said nervously.

"Here!" Weiss pulled Myrtenaster's trigger on primed it to fire off Lightning Dust. Using almost all the Aura she had left, Weiss summed a yellow Glyph below the two of them. Izuku suddenly felt a strong boost in speed, almost like he could run twice as fast. "Time-Dilation Glyph. Still not the greatest at it."

"Well I think it works just fine!" Izuku said, earning a slight blush from Weiss. As the two of them rounded a corner, Izuku quickly dragged them into another small parking garage like the one he first found himself in, followed several seconds later by the thugs. However, when the thugs entered the building they didn't immediately see the teens, and instead saw a large fire in the center of the room. As the thugs looked around to try and spot the children, the large swordsman looked into the blazing fire and saw the outlines of two people on the other side.

 _Is that…_

"MISTRAL SMAAAASH!"

The thugs were blown back by a sudden, strong gust of wind which carried within it the roaring flames of the fire before them. While some of the men had time to cover their faces, all of them fell victim to the attack, including the swordsman, whose Aura shattered completely. Most of them were knocked out by the force of the wind and the heat before being swept up in a wave of ice, trapping all of the thugs in place.

Weiss sighed. "That worked way better than I thought it would. The ice should help any serious burns, and any major injuries can be treated at a hospital once they're all in custody. I had to use up the rest of my Ice Dust though. Nice job coming up with this-" Weiss was cut short when she saw Izuku cradling his wounded hand, blood coming out of his badly broken finger.

"Y-Yeah, it worked alright, didn't it?" Izuku said with a pained grin on his face.

"Here," Weiss reached into a pouch on her back and pulled out some bandages. "Show me your hand," Weiss said. Izuku nodded before slowly placing his left hand in front of her. Weiss' face turned pale and she almost threw up when she felt how badly broken it was, but she grabbed his hand and began to tie the finger up. "These bandages are infused with minor amounts of Ice Dust so it should help with any pain or swelling."

"Thank you, Weiss."

"Well, you are the one who managed to come up with the plan, even if you are a dolt with no control over his own powers."

Izuku laughed nervously. "Yeah, I've got a long way to go before I can hold a candle to the rest of you guys." Weiss paused at the seriousness in Izuku's voice before continuing. "Plus that plan was really risky I mean itrelieduponallofthembeinginthesameroomatthesametimeandnotbeingabletoreacttobothofourattacksintimesotherewasalargechanceoferrorplusitinvolvedputtingusbothinharm'swaysoi'mhonestlysur-"

"Izuku!" The young inheritor began to blush nervously after realizing he was muttering. "Your plan was great." Izuku looked at Weiss and saw the seriousness in her eyes, there even being a slight smile on her face.

"O-O-Oh, t-thanks!" Izuku said scratching the back of his head and hiding his face slightly. Weiss sighed.

 _Definitely still a dolt, but not nearly as incompetent as I thought. Definitely one of the better ones here so far._

"So, you have any more suggestions?" Weiss asked as she finished applying the bandages.

"Well, now that we've dealt with these guys, we should get out of here and head over to the main entrance. That's probably where everyone else will be too."

"Sounds good. Hopefully Mr. Aizawa will have dealt with most of those cretins in the plaza by now. I'm just glad to be out of this heat."

"Me too." The two of them started walking out of the building, giving a brief look over to the criminals to ensure they were all out of commission. Before they exited the building, Izuku froze in place completely, his face entirely red.

"What's wrong?" Weiss asked with concern.

"Y-You're still holding onto my hand…" Izuku said nervously.

Now it was Weiss' turn to blush.

* * *

 _Main Plaza_

Shota Aizawa's eyes burnt like hell. For the past few minutes, he'd been forced to constantly bob and weave away from the punched and kicks of more goons than he could count. Most of them were inexperienced, hardly really knowing how to throw a punch. He wished he could stop using his Semblance. While most of these thugs probably lacked control over their Semblance, using Erasure also gave a person a harder time controlling their Aura, and he had an easier time breaking through Auras when he used it. And with these many numbers, he needed every bit of help he could get.

 _They better have signaled for help by now._

Through bloodshot eyes, Aizawa saw that most of the criminals had been dealt with, maybe a dozen or so left standing. The only major players left were the one covered in hands and the big one. As he delivered a roundhouse kick to one of the minor ones, he saw the man covered in hands was now trying to blitz him.

"Twenty-three seconds…"

"You're the boss then?" Aizawa asked rhetorically as he swept the legs of another thug.

"Twenty-four seconds… then Twenty seconds…" Aizawa threw a strand of Binding Cloth at the leader only for it to be caught mid-air.

"Tch." Aizawa ducked under the arm of a thug who tried to stab him with a knife before charging at the leader.

"Seventeen seconds…" Aizawa wordlessly triggered a current of Lightning Dust to blast through Binding Cloth up to the man's right hand. The small burst of electricity forced his hand to contract around the cloth, preventing him from letting go. Aizawa yanked on his weapon with his left hand and pulled the hand-faced man towards him before planting an elbow into his gut.

At least, that was the plan.

"It was hard to tell at first with you jumping around fighting those NPCs, but there are times when your hair falls down in front of your eyes." As the man talked, Aizawa looked to see that the boss had caught the Huntsman's elbow with his left hand. "That's when your Semblance deactivates, isn't it? Your max time before blinking keeps getting shorter and shorter." Aizawa's shirt began to slowly disintegrate away.

"Don't overdo it, _Huntsman_." The fabric covering his elbow had completely gone, and now it was his elbow which had begun to break apart.

 _Damn!_

Aizawa delivered a left-cross to his opponent before jumping back and reactivating his Semblance, stopping the decay in his arm once he looked at the leader. _The second he touched me my elbow began to disintegrate. He even did it through my_ Aura _. I need to stay clear of him until-._ Aizawa was cut short from his thoughts as two more thugs ran at him. He managed to kick them away, but he no longer had use of his right arm, making Binding Cloth much harder to wield.

"Your Semblance isn't good in drawn-out fights, huh? Your usual work consists of sneak attacks not front line combat. You're much more of a Rogue than a Paladin, huh? But you still jumped into the fray just to make the kids feel safe, right? You really are pretty cool…" As Aizawa dealt with another thug using a left-handed punch, he saw the shadow of a giant figure right behind him. "By the way, Huntsman," Aizawa turned and was met with the hand of the large monstrosity with the bird beak which had yet to enter the fight.

"I'm not the final boss."

* * *

 **A/N**

 **Another really long break, another chapter in the record books!**

 **Chapter Commentary:**

 **-Changed League of Villains to Grim Legion since the concept of "Villains" isn't as integral to the narrative in RWBY, not that I'm the first to do that or anything. Hopefully the name isn't too edgy.**

 **-We got to see a lot more of Izuku and Weiss interacting in this chapter. I didn't really have much trouble writing their interactions, which is a good sign for the future. I hope you guys enjoyed it.**

 **-White Fang tease is mainly in there to give a (hopefully) natural transition into the events immediately after this Arc. Plus I really haven't touched on Faunus in the story yet, so I felt like I needed to put them in here somewhere.**

 **-Writing Yang and Bakugo is fun, they have some good chemistry. Not guaranteeing they're a ship of anything though.**

 **-Figured it made sense to let Aizawa's scarf use Dust to help him fight. As iconic as it is, it's not nearly as flashy and over the top as some of the RWBY weapons can be.**

 **-Any major characters who we didn't see post teleportation will show up in the next chapter. Not sure if that'll wrap up the USJ arc completely or not. We'll have to see.**

 **Reviews**

 **MarvelNinja10- (Manga Spoilers in the comment) Yeah, I really did enjoy everything in the MLA Arc, and the Endeavor Agency Arc's shaping up to be really interesting too (Chapter 249 is the most recent as I'm writing this). As far as how OfA evolves as Izuku continues to use it, I have a couple of general ideas. I'll definitely use Blackwhip as a power, but if I already have all the other powers chosen before they reveal the next one, I might only use Blackwhip. I do have general ideas about the "vestiges" of OfA though.**

 **Trey Alexander- Yeah, in hindsight, I probably should've had Izuku and Katsuki lose their battle. MSKI does come off as being too OP compared to the rest. I'm not too bothered by it though.**

 **Trey Alexander (2)- (Manga Spoilers in the comment) That's a pretty decent idea for incorporating Re-Destro and Co., I'm more just concerned about how it would affect the overall pacing of the story than anything else. I'll probably end up looking back on this comment for ideas in the future though.**

 **Boloipi- I'll keep those shipping ideas in mind and I also promise to keep Izuku and Weiss at the forefront. I don't want the shipping to become rampant.**

 **Just as an FYI, I'm gonna ask we save shipping suggestions for later in the story (I kinda opened up Pandora's BOx by asking in Chapter 1 lol). Pretty much all ships that aren't IzukuxWeiss won't get major development until later in the story. I'll still have characters interact with one another, obviously, just not in a** _ **clearly**_ **shipping way.**

 **See ya next time!**


	9. All Might

**What's this? A new chapter out in a reasonable amount of time? Impossible!**

 **I do not own RWBY nor My Hero Academia all rights belong to Monty Oum and Kohei Horikoshi and their respective publishing companies.**

 **I do not own the cover image.**

 **Chapter 9: All Might**

* * *

"Man I'm glad we don't have to stay in there any longer. My cloak is _soaked_." Ruby said as she wrung out her precious red hood.

"Yes, I too am most glad to be out of there," Tenya said as he tried his best to wipe the water from his glasses.

The two speedsters had been teleported into the Downpour Zone, a city with constant strong rain. While the rain was an effective cover for moving around undetected, the slippery roads made it much more difficult for the two teens to effectively use their Semblances. Therefore, the two of them found the largest building in the zone and had Ruby snipe at anyone who came into view while Tenya stood on guard. After some time, the pair had managed to clear out the zone and made their way outside into the main building.

"Now that we're out of there, we should probably try to get back up to the main entrance. That's no doubt where our classmates will be heading. I just hope no one got ambushed right after they got teleported."

"Well if you're that worried, let's go help 'em out!" Ruby said as she loaded a fresh magazine into Crescent Rose.

"Surely you must be joking, Ms. Rose. It'd simply add to the confusion if we were to go out there and start running around looking for people, and Professor Aizawa told us explicitly to stay together."

"I know what Aizawa said, but our teammates could be in big trouble out there! We need to help however we can." Ruby retorted.

"I understand the sentiment but if you want to be proactive I suggest we find a way to signal back to the main campus that there's been a breach!" Tenya responded.

"Umm… I think they already know..." Ruby said as she pointed over Tenya's shoulder.

"What do mean they already… oh…" Tenya said as he jaw hung slightly open.

"Come on, let's start by heading over to the plaza!" Tenya turned over his shoulder to see a blur of rose petals heading off in the opposite direction.

"Ms. Rose! Ugh, dammit." Tenya said before using his own Semblance to go after the scythe-wielder.

* * *

 _Earlier, BRTC Main Entrance_

 _Coming to Beacon was a mistake._

Those were the words running thought Jaune's mind. Within the first month of him being in the school, he'd been thrown off a cliff into a forest full of Grimm (and that was the first day), been repeatedly embarrassed in every sparring match he was in, no matter who he faced, and today, he and his friends were being attacked by actual criminals.

 _Friends_ … that word stuck out a lot to him right now. Mainly because he wasn't sure how long he would keep his current friends. Not only due to the life or death situation they were in right now, but because of what he did.

He lied. Plain and simple. He lied his way into Beacon. After saving up money for a year and a half, he bought some fake transcripts off the Mistrali Black Market and snuck his way into Beacon. He had hoped he would be able to make do with what little training he had, but it was clear within the first week that the gap in combat skill between him and his teammates was massive. He knew he didn't deserve to be there, but he always just wanted to be a Huntsman so _bad_. Was it bad to want to carry on the legacy your family left behind?

He never meant to let it out, but when Pyrrha asked him if he wanted help, he just... snapped. He got a genuine offer for help and he shot it down without even thinking. And as he did, he let out his secret. There was no way Pyrrha would be able to respect him after that. And it was almost certain that she'd tell Ren and Nora. Then they'd tell the rest of their friends and then eventually, expulsion at the hands of Ozpin.

So when you combine that along with the black mist currently enveloping him, Jaune was a little bit more than overwhelmed.

Jaune swung out with one hand while shielding his eyes with the other, trying to find his way through the mist. It moved with surprising speed, so much so that the teen thought he'd be thrown completely off his feet by the force of it. Eventually, the mist completely dissipated. Jaune quickly looked around, trying to find his bearings. He was still at the entrance, almost exactly where he'd been before the mist engulfed them, but almost everyone else around them was gone. A look to his left confirmed that Thirteen was still there, and a look to his right showed that Pyrrha, Ren, and Nora were still here with him. Other than that, they were alone.

"You four, stay put and get behind me!" Thirteen said as she quickly moved forward toward the mist's main body.

"So you plan on taking me out all by yourself, Thirteen? This should be entertaining." The mist taunted. Thirteen lowered her stance slightly before messing with a mechanism on her right gauntlet.

"This is bad. What happened to everyone else?!" Nora asked as she began to frantically look around. "Ren, can you sense their Aura?" Ren closed his eyes and paused for a moment.

"No, but that doesn't mean they're dead."

 _That mist guy teleported everyone in here earlier, right? Maybe he teleported everyone else around too? Why would he leave us though? He must think he's strong enough to take all of us on at once then…_

"Jaune!" The blonde leader was jolted from his thoughts as Pyrrha shook his shoulder. "You looked like you were in thought. Do you have a plan?"

"Ugh… n-no. I was just out of it for a sec…" Jaune said quietly. Ren and Nora turned away from their leader to look back at their foe. Pyrrha looked a Jaune with a strained look before turning away as well. Jaune took a deep breath, his legs began to shake, and he felt like he was about to throw up.

"I won't allow you to harm anyone else here!" Thirteen said as she pointed her right index finger at the mist. "BLACKHOLE!" Suddenly, the air in front of the Huntress began to get sucked into her finger, including to mist man.

 _That's her Semblance?_ Jaune thought. _That's amazing! W-Wait, if that guy's some sort of teleporter, then can't he…_

Almost in time with Jaune's thoughts, two black portals appeared; one in front of Thirteen and one behind her. "What?!" Thirteen yelled out. Before she could stop herself, Thirteen's own Semblance was turned against her. Her armor was forcefully ripped from her back into the portal. Within the blink of an eye, Thirteen's Aura was broken by the point-blank force of the Blackhole.

"THIRTEEN!" Pyrrha and Nora yelled out.

"I'm sorry… he got me…" Thirteen said as she fell to the ground, barely holding onto consciousness.

"Hmm… and here I thought you would've been tougher. Does your Semblance really have that much stopping power, or was your Aura really that weak? I suppose it's no real surprise that Huntress who does disaster relief can't hold up in a one on one fight." The mist spoke.

Ren quickly ran up to Thirteen's side and tried to help her to her feet while Nora brought out Magnhild and fired off a shot right at the mist's eyes. Jaune's eyes widened when he realized what was about to happen. He leaped and grabbed Nora and Pyrrha and quickly pulled him to the ground. A portal opened up behind the three of them as Nora's grenade was redirected to hit them in the back, barely missing them.

"Dammit! He's fast. Thanks for the save, Jaune." Nora said as she and Pyrrha hoisted themselves to their feet.

 _She's right, his reaction time is faster than any of our attacks. We won't be able to take him down, even if we work together. Our best chance is to signal for help. But how?_ Jaune thought.

Nora got up and helped Ren drag Thirteen back behind the rest of the team. "You kids… you need to stay back…" Thirteen spoke quietly.

"I doubt he'll give us that option, ma'am," Pyrrha said as he prepared Miló's spear form.

"Pyrrha, wait," Jaune said. Pyrrha turned back to her partner with a look of determination.

"We can't just stay still, Jaune. We have to fight," Pyrrha responded sternly.

"I-I have a plan." Pyrrha returned Jaune's words with a look of surprise.

"Well if you do, let's hear it," Nora said. She and Ren placed Thirteen down gently.

 _Oh crap! Why did I say that?! I don't have a plan, just a couple of guesses! What do I do now?!_ Jaune thought frantically.

"Jaune." The teen was again brought from his thoughts as Pyrrha yet again put her hand on his shoulder. "Your last plan ended with us killing a Giant Nevermore didn't it?"

"Umm… yeah…" Jaune responded nervously. "I don't really-"

"She's saying you haven't let us down yet," Nora said as she kept her eyes trained on the mist.

"We're all ears," Ren added. Jaune sighed.

"Alright look, it's just a hunch, but if I'm right, we might be able to pull this off," Jaune said. "Pyrrha, I need you to take some potshots at him, but _don't_ aim for his eyes, go for the fringes of the smoke."

Nora looked as Jaune like he'd grown a second head. "What's that gonna do?"

"Let's find out," Pyrrha said as she turned around and took several shots around the edges of the mist. The shots simply passed through and connected with the walls of the BRTC.

"Was that supposed to do anything?" The mist asked tauntingly.

" _A close call"..._ Jaune remembered the Mist Man's words when Yang and Katsuki charged at him just a moment earlier. _So he does have a real body. He'll probably only teleport shots behind us if they're going to hit his main body so he can conserve his Aura._

"Alright, Nora and Ren, get ready to fire at him. Pyrrha, I need you to use your Semblance." Jaune said as he drew his weapon.

"Alright, but how?" Pyrrha asked. Jaune slammed the blade of Crocea Mors perpendicular to the ground before placing his shield along his right arm.

"You can do it on projectiles, right?" Jaune asked.

 **(Cue- I May Fall)**

 _This is growing tiresome…_ Kurogiri thought as he watched the teens before him talk. "You've had your time to say your last words to each other. Now it's time for-"

"NOW!" As Jaune yelled, all four members of Team JNPR got into a single file line with Jaune being the furthest from Kurogiri followed by Pyrrha, Ren, and Nora with Thirteen laying down in between the former pair. Ren and Nora began to fire off a volley of shots at the Grim Legion's teleporter, with Ren concentrating fire on his main body and Nora fired off grenades on the edges of Kurogiri's mist, changing where she fired every time.

"This trick again?" Kurogiri asked rhetorically as he redirected Ren's shots with StormFlower behind the team with the use of his Semblance. However, Jaune used his shield to tank the bullets, protecting his teammates. "Even if you protect them, you've still done no damage to me!"

"That's not the plan, you overgrown stormcloud!" Nora taunted back.

 _What?_

 ***BOOOOOOM***

Kurogiri's thoughts were stopped by the sound of an explosion from… behind him. As the firing from the teens stopped, Kurogiri turned his mist form around to see that the explosion had come from a whole that had been blown in the side of the BRTC's wall, causing sunlight to leak into the building.

 _How? What it that girl's grenades? Impossible! She was changing where she shot every time. There's no way she could've aimed and curved those shots with such precision. Unless…_

Kurogiri turned back to the teens to see the Pyrrha's arms had been extended out while they were firing. Sweat dripped down her brow as her red Aura gave off the faintest of shimmers.

 _I see… that girl used her Semblance to redirect the grenades onto a single point and create that mass explosion. The boy with the pistols was only shooting at my main body as a distraction._

"With the smoke that explosion will produce, someone's bound to notice it!" Jaune said triumphantly.

 _So that boy came up with the plan. Did he decipher by capabilities that quickly? We underestimated these students._ Without another word, Kurogiri teleported away from the entrance, leaving JNPR and Thirteen by themselves.

"Dammit! I wanted to break his legs afterward." Nora said with a pout as she dropped the empty shells out of Magnhild.

"Well done, students… thank you for covering for my mistake." Thirteen said weakly.

"You just rest ma'am," Ren said as he began to tend to their teacher's wounds.

"Man that was close," Jaune said as doubled over slightly.

"Jaune," Said teen turned once again towards his partner, though this time Pyrrha's face was adorned with a smile. "You may not be the best fighter in this school, but you _do_ deserve to be here." She said with confidence. Jaune returned the smile.

Maybe it wasn't a mistake to come to Beacon.

"Thank you, Pyrrha. Come on, let's try to open up the doors and get some sort of signal flare up." Pyrrha nodded before turning and running towards the doors with Jaune while Nora guarded Ren as he helped Thirteen. "Let's hope everyone else is doing ok."

 **(End Music)**

* * *

 _Main Plaza_

Neither Izuku nor Weiss could bring themselves to take a single step nor make a sound as they looked at the center of the plaza.

Nomu. "The Anti-Symbol of Peace". That's what the hand faced guy had called it. They weren't sure if it was human or not, but neither answer seemed preferable.

 ***CRACK***

The successor and the heiress could do nothing but watch behind the cover of a row of bushes within the main plaza as the behemoth of a creature crushed Eraser Head's right arm like a twig.

"Stopping people from using their Semblances. It's a cool ability, especially against low-level NPCs, but it means nothing when you're up against someone with max strength." The hand faced man said. As he finished speaking, Nomu brought down his left hand and crushed Aizawa's right arm, earning a shout of agony.

"Mr. Aizawa…" Weiss whispered to herself.

 _That strength… the only person I've seen with that much brute power is All Might…_ Izuku thought to himself.

"Tomura Shigaraki…" Behind said man emerged the same black mist, though this time much smaller.

"Did you kill Thirteen, Kurogiri?" Tomura asked.

"Thirteen is incapacitated, but there were some students I was unable to warp away. That explosion just a few moments ago was them creating a signal. It's possible the main campus has spotted the smoke by now."

"... Oh…" Tomura stood still for a moment before reaching his right hand up to his neck.

*SCRATCHSCRATCH*

"Oh..." Tomura spoke again as he brought up his left hand next to his right.

*SCRATCHSCRATCHSCRATCHSCRATCH*

"Kurogiri," The hand faced man spoke as he finally brought his hands away from his neck, leaving behind visible scratch marks."If you weren't our ticket out of here, I'd have turned you to _dust_ already. We won't stand a chance against so many Hunters if all we have are NPCs to back us up, especially if their Headmaster shows up too. It'll be game over, back to the title screen. And we were so close to finishing the level too.

"We're leaving." Tomura finished.

"D-Did I hear that right?" Izuku asked quietly.

"Yeah, they said they're leaving," Weiss responded. "But I still have a bad feeling about this." Izuku nodded.

"They'd go to all this trouble and then leave the second help is on the way? Beacon's gonna have more security than ever after this."

"Right. There's no way All Might isn't on his way right now. If they want to kill him this might be their only shot." Weiss agreed.

 _Why would this be game over?_ Both teens thought.

"Oh, but before we leave, let's kill a few kids." Before either of the Hunters-in-training could process his words, Tomura was on top of them, his right hand inches away from Weiss' face. "And wound the Symbol of Peace's pride!" Everything ran in slow motion as Izuku turned to his left to see the criminal's hand reach out towards the heiress. Weiss was beginning to process what was happening too, but it was far too late. Tomura's fingers each made contact with Wiess…

And nothing happened.

"I see. You dropped your Aura right before it was completely broken, opting to let yourself be injured on the off chance you could use your Semblance to help out the students. You really are just so cool, Eraser Head." Tomura turned back over his shoulder to see Aizawa struggling to keep his bloodshot eyes on the criminal, his Aura flaring violently as he struggled to keep his Semblance up. Nomu quickly slammed Aizawa's face into the concrete, finally breaking the professor's Aura, buying Weiss just enough time to back away and not get disintegrated.

 _Nononononononono!_ Izuku thought as he summoned up One For All into his right arm. _This guy's way more dangerous than the people we fought before!_

"Get away from her!" The successor yelled as prepared to punch Tomura with all his might. "BEACON…"

"Nomu."

"SMAAASH!" Izuku yelled as he punched at the criminal, sending off a violent shockwave around him. As the force eventually faded, Izuku quickly registered the lack of pain in his arm. _My body didn't break? Seriously?! This is the time I manage to regulate One For All? I know that attack connected! I did it…_

As the smoke from his attack cleared, Izuku saw before him, not a beaten up villain, but instead a hulking black body. The teen looked up to see the bird-like eyes of the creature that had just broken his teacher like a tooth-pick.

 _When did he get here? Wait… One For All… didn't work?_ Weiss and Izuku both looked in shock as Nomu stood there, showing no signs of pain from the punch it had just taken.

"You're pretty tough, kid. 'Beacon Smash'? You an All Might fan?" Tomura's words quickly brought Weiss out of her shock as she drew Myrtenaster and brought up a Glyph to separate her from Tomura. "I guess it doesn't matter," said villain continued as he destroyed Weiss' Glyph with the touch of his hand. "You're going to die anyway."

 ***KABOOOOOOOOM***

All four combatants, even the unthinking Nomu, were taken out of the moment from the thunderous noise that came from the entrance of the BRTC. Though none of them could see it, the faces of Team JNPR at the entrance changed from fearful to relieved as a figure slowly walked into the building, stopping at the top of the main entrances' steps.

" **I had a bad feeling when Aizawa didn't answer my call earlier. But after I saw the smoke coming from the building, I knew something was wrong. Fear not, students."** As _that_ voice echoed throughout the building, all the criminals grew antsy. Tomura turned away from the students and took several steps towards the man, with Nomu simply standing still. " **I am here!"** All Might announced as he threw the jacket of his yellow suit to the ground, an uncharacteristic grimace on his face.

"Took you long enough," Tomura said to himself.

Izuku turned his attention away from his mentor to see that many of the thugs Aizawa had been dealing with were now once again on their feet, reacting in a mix of shock, fear, and anticipation as the Number One Hero towered above them. Wordlessly, All Might jumped and blitzed through the air, moving so fast Izuku couldn't keep up. By the time All Might was visible to the young teen, he'd delivered a knock-out punch to the several dozen criminals that had just gotten up, knocking them out cold.

" **I'm sorry, Aizawa."** All Might said as he reached down and carefully picked up his colleague's mangled body. He hoisted Eraser Head over his shoulder and shot an icy cold glare at Tomura. All Might shot past the villain and grabbed Izuku and Weiss before jumping back towards the exit, moving so fast the hand covering Tomura's face was knocked off by the speed of his movements.

" **Take Professor Aizawa back up to the entrance quickly!"** All Might instructed. Izuku and Weiss were still having trouble processing how they'd covered that distance so fast, but brought themselves out of their shock and grabbed their teacher. As they began to walk away, Izuku saw the faintest bit of steam coming off of the Symbol of Peace's shoulder.

 _All Might… you are almost out of time!_ Izuku thought nervously.

"Ahhhhhh, no good," Tomura mumbled to himself as he picked up his hand. "I'm sorry, _father_." Tomura brought the hand up to his head. "No surprise you'd resort to violence the second you got here, the classic move of a Huntsman. You're too fast for me to keep up with. But you're not as fast as I thought.

"Could you really be getting weaker?" Tomura asked as he turned to face All Might, a split-second view of his scarred, unhealthy pale face showing as he placed "father" back onto his face.

"A-All Might, it's no use!" Izuku called out. "I used One For- I mean, I used an attack that didn't break my arm, but the big guy didn't even flinch! If you fight him-"

" **Young Midoriya!"** All Might turned back towards his pupil and flashed a peace sign and his signature smile. " **It'll be fine!"**

"Izuku come on, let's go!" Weiss said. Through Izuku's fears were hardly but to rest, he turned around and began to carry Aizawa back to the main entrance with Weiss. All Might turned back to the criminals and charged headfirst, bringing his arms in an "x" formation in front of him.

" **ARGUS…"**

"Nomu."

" **SMAAASH!"** All Might did a downward cross-chop with his arms aimed right at Tomura, but Nomu moved in and intercepted the blow, taking the full brunt of All Might's attack. All Might stared in shock before ducking away from Nomu's attempt to grab him. " **Damn. Guess he was right when he said you could take a punch!"** All Might said as he drove a fist directly into Nomu's stomach, only for the monstrosity to remain unflinching. All Might ducked away from another grab attempt and delivered two punches right into Nomu's face, only for the beast to stare back, still unaffected.

"That'd be a combination of his insane levels of Aura and his Shock Absorption Semblance," Tomura said as he watched All Might and Nomu go back and forth. "If I were you, I'd try ripping his flesh apart piece by piece. Not that he'll give you the chance."

" **Thanks for the advice!"** All Might said as he quickly dashed around Nomu and grabbed Nomu around the waist. " **Piece of cake!"** He then lifted Nomu over his head and delivered a devastating German Suplex to his opponent, causing an eruption to form from the impact.

"Did you see that?! That's what they get for underestimating the Number One Hunter!" Nora yelled from atop the stairs at the entrance as she watched the fight unfold.

"I've never seen him fight in person before," Weiss said as she and Izuku reached the bottom of the stairs. "His strength is unbelievable. Looks like he's got everything handled." Izuku kept looking over his shoulder at the fight.

 _These criminals may seriously have a way to kill All Might, and we can't do anything to help. Even if we did try, they'd probably just take us hostage and we'd end up slowing All Might down. I guess we'll just have to trust him._ Izuku thought.

"BREAK THEIR LEGS, TEACH!" Nora yelled.

"Hey look down there, it's Weiss and Izuku!" Jaune stated as he and Ren began to run down the stairs towards their classmates.

 _But I know his secret,_ Izuku continued to think. _If I was right earlier and All Might has already reached his time limit, then that means he's in trouble. And I'm the only one here who knows!_ Izuku stopped walking and turned back to look at the fight. A look of fear slowly dawned his face.

"Come on Izuku, we need to keep moving!" Weiss shouted.

"Hey, are you guys alri-" Jaune, having quickly reached the three of them along with Ren, also stopped entirely when he caught a glimpse of the fight from the corner of his eye. Weiss grew angry before turning to look at the fight, only for her to suddenly join her classmates in shock.

" **What a cheap trick."** All Might said as blood began to form at the corner of his mouth. All Might's attack had been reversed on him, as a Warp Gate appeared where Nomu had been dropped which connected to a Gate right below All Might. Nomu had it claws sunk deep into All Might's left side, his brilliant yellow Aura fluctuating as it failed to heal his wounds.

"I see," Tomura spoke, "You were planning to trap him the concrete to seal his movements. Even if you had hit your mark, it wouldn't have worked. Nomu's strength is equal to your own. Nice timing Kurogiri." On cue, Kurogiri began to form himself from the two Warp Gates. Nomu began to dig his claws further into All Might, eliciting a grunt of pain and an ooze of blood.

 _ **What incredible power,**_ All Might thought. _**And to make matters worse, he got me in my weak spot!**_ " **For first-time criminals, I commend your efforts. But your success ends here."** All Might said as he attempted to get Nomu's claw from his side.

"Do it, Kurogiri," Tomura said.

"I dislike the idea of my Warp Gates being filled with blood and guts, but I'll oblige for the Symbol of Peace," Kurogiri said as he began to shrink the portals.

"Wanna know how you'll die, All Might?" Tomura taunted. "Nomu here's gonna drag you halfway through Kurogiri's portal, then we'll close them while you're still inside. You'll be chopped in two. It'll be game over for you!"

"Ren," Izuku said.

"What is it?" Ren asked.

"I need you to carry Professor Aizawa." Ren quickly moved to grab onto their teacher as Izuku let go.

"Is something-" Before Jaune could finish his question, Izuku was in a dead sprint towards his mentor, tears on the edges of his eyes.

 _No, All Might! There are still so many things I need you to teach me!_

"Izuku!" Weiss yelled out in vein. "Jaune, hold him!" Weiss commanded as Jaune quickly moved to grab Aizawa, allowing Weiss to run after the green-haired hunter.

"Hey, wait!" Jaune yelled out. "What are you guys gonna… dammit. Come on, Ren. We need to get Aizawa up there fast!"

"ALL MIIIIGHT!" Izuku yelled out as he closed in on the four combatants. He wasn't really sure what his plan was, he simply acted out of emotion.

 _ **Young Midoriya?! Get out of here!**_ All Might thought. As Izuku reached the fight, Kurogiri teleported right in front of him, opening up a black portal.

"How foolish," Kurogiri said. Before Izuku could stumble into the portal, a Glyph formed in front between the two, causing Izuku to ram into it and bounce back. Before Kurogiri could deal with either Izuku or Weiss…

"DIE!" An explosive blonde charged right into Kurogiri, delivering an explosion which managed to send the teleporter back. "Get the fuck out of my way, Deku!" Katsuki yelled with a maniacal grin. Before Kurogiri could move, another blonde came rocketing in, allowing Yang and Katsuki to quickly pin him to the ground, holding onto his metal plates.

"Gotcha that time, misty!" Yang taunted.

At the same time, the air around them dropped in temperature as a wave of ice traveled up Nomu's right side, stopping just short of the ice touching All Might. "One of your dime a dozen thugs told us you're here to kill All Might," Shoto said as he too joined the battlefield, with Blake right behind him.

Before Tomura could make a move, two blurs, one red and one silver, blitz the hand-wearer from behind, the combination of slices from Crescent Rose and Legacy taking a significant chunk from his Aura. The two blurs stopped moving once they reached Izuku and Weiss, revealing two rather pleased speedsters.

"Aww yeah! Nice work, Tenya!" Ruby cheered.

"As if scum like you would ever be able to kill the Symbol of Peace," Shoto stated coldly.

 _Kacchan… everyone…_ Izuku thought as he whipped small tears away from his eyes.

 _ **Thanks to Young Todoroki's efforts,**_ All Might thought as wrenched Nomu's claws from his sides. _**I can break free!**_ All Might finally got out of Nomu's hold and leapt away from the creature, blood leaking rather visibly from his left side. While most of the students ignored All Might's injury, Izuku was especially worried by it.

"You two brats pinned down our escape. Way to go Kurogiri," Tomura said as he held his hands on the cuts given two him by Ruby and Tenya.

"You messed up earlier when you said our first attack was a close call, ya bastard! You have a real body that you cover up using the mist from your portals." Katsuki said.

"So long as we aim for your metal plates, your trick is useless." Yang continued.

"Try to do anything and you'll get blown to hell," Katsuki said into Kurogiri's ear.

"That's not exactly Hunter-like, but I'll let it slide," Tenya said.

"Well isn't this impressive," Tomura said. "You kids managed to clear the Dungeon of our thugs, then came here and captured my two strongest men. And you're at full health too. Kids these days really are impressive. You've put our Grim Legion to shame. Nomu, take out those two blondes. We need our escape route."

To the surprise of All Might and the teens, especially Shoto, Nomu pulled himself out of the portal and tried to stand up. However, his right side, now thoroughly frozen over, cracked entirely, causing Nomu's right arm and leg to fall off.

"He can still move even when he's falling apart like that?" Izuku questioned. As they continued to watch, Nomu's right side began to regrow itself as a multi-colored Aura shined along his body.

" **Everyone, stay back! How is that possible? You said his Semblance was Shock Absorption!"** All Might said.

"I didn't say that was his _only_ Semblance. He also has Hyper-Regeneration. Nomu was engineered to be a punching bag that punched back. I wasn't lying when I said he's as strong as you, All Might." As Tomura spoke, Nomu darted with killer intent towards Yang and Katsuki. Neither had time to react as Nomu delivered an uppercut with enough force to knock the six other Hunters-in-training backward.

"Kacchan!""Yang!" Izuku and Ruby called out.

"We're fine," Yang said. The others turned to see both blondes in the center of their eight-man group, both flat on the ground.

"Woah, you guys dodged that?!" Ruby asked in amazement.

"We didn't dodge anything, brat!" Katsuki yelled back. _I couldn't even see him coming. He's so fast!_ The grenadier thought. As the dust from the shockwave cleared, All Might became visible, having been knocked back into a wall of concrete from Nomu's punch. Trace amounts of blood spurted from his mouth.

" **How dare you refuse to hold back against children!"** All Might called out through heavy breaths. _**Multiple Semblances… hopefully it's limited to just those two. If he has anywhere near as many as**_ **he** _ **had, I'll need backup to deal with this thing.**_

 _He took the hit for those two kids._ Tomura thought. "I didn't really have much of a choice now did I? They were attacking my companion. It's not like these kids are angels, either." Tomura said as he pointed towards Izuku. "That plain-looking one came at with a maxed-out punch that could've killed me. You Hunters are supposed to kill Grimm, not people. But that's the great hypocrisy, isn't it? You Hunters thinks it's perfectly fine to use violence if it's 'for the sake of others'. And that just pisses me off!

"Hunters and people like us both use violence for our own ends, but because you do it on the authority of some old Kingdom or the license of some worthless Academy, you think you have the moral high ground! You're no Symbol of Peace! You're just a man whose actions only breed more violence. I'll show that to Remnant by killing you here and now!" Tomura exclaimed.

" **What worthless garbage. I've met plenty of idealistic criminals before, especially in the White Fang. They have a different look in their eyes when they preach their morals. You're only here for fun, aren't you?"** All Might retorted.

 _You saw right through me, huh?_ Tomura thought as he gave All Might a wicked stare.

"It's a three-versus-nine fight," Shoto said as he crushed two crystals of Ice Dust.

"And we know how to deal with Mr. Mist now!" Yang said as she bashed her fists together.

"These guys may be tough, but with All Might's help, Teams RWBY and MSKI have this in the bag!" Ruby said.

" **No!"** All Might order as he waved the teens off. " **You children need to leave!"**

"If I hadn't frozen him earlier, you'd be in a lot of trouble." Shoto retorted.

"Plus you're already injured. And your time's almost u- ah…" Izuku stopped himself short but was still clearly worried.

" **You're right Young Todoroki, and I appreciate your help! But fear not. You kids just stand back and watch a Pro get serious!"** All Might said as he gave RWBY and MSKI a thumbs up.

 _All Might…_ Izuku thought fearfully.

"Nomu. Kurogiri." Tomura said as he removed his hands from his sides, his wounds fully healed by his Aura. "Kill him. I'll deal with the children.

 **(Cue- You Say Run)**

 _ **Young Midoriya is right. I fear I may only have a minute left in this form. My power is draining faster than I would've liked!**_ All Might thought.

"Let's clear this level and go home," Tomura said as he dashed towards the teens.

 _ **Even so, I have to stop these criminals here and now!**_

"Looks like we're fighting after all," Yang said. As she and the others readier their stances.

 _ **Because I am…**_ All Might channeled as much strength as he could, the raw power of One For All causing his Aura to blow a bright yellow, almost blinding in its light. _**I am the Symbol of Peace!**_ The sheer force of All Might using his full power caused the air pressure in the entire complex to increase. This change caused Tomura to stop in his tracks and made all eight teens flinch back in shock.

The Symbol of Peace and the Bioengineered Monstrocity dashed towards each other, their fists colliding and creating a shockwave that knocked RWBY, MSKI, Tomura, and Kurogiri back dozens of yards.

"Were you listening, _Hunter_?" Tomura taunted as he tumbled through the air before landing. "One of his Semblances is Shock Absorption!"

" **Yeah! What about it?!"** All might yelled back as his fist collided with Nomu's yet again. Before long, their series of slow punches escalated into a rapid exchange of fists, each one sending off massive gusts of air.

"He's gonna fight that brain guy head on?!" Izuku asked as he and the other teens tried their best not to be thrown back even further.

"They're so fast!" Weiss yelled out.

"Damn! I can't get near them!" Kurogiri said as the shockwaves likewise kept him out of the fight.

" **He said your Semblance was Shock** _ **Absorption**_ **, not Shock** _ **Nullification**_ **! That means there's a limit to what you can take, right?!"** All Might said as his punches slowly began to land on Nomu rather than colliding with the beast's own attacks. " **You were made to fight me huh?! Even if you withstand me going at 100%,"** Tomura looked own in awe as All Might slowly began forcing Nomu back with his blows. " **Then I'll simply go beyond 100% and beat you that way!"** The speed of All Might's punches escalated, along with the glow his Aura produced. Nomu flinched as several solid hits were landed on its face.

 _Even though he's injured, he's still giving his all._ Izuku thought. _Those punches aren't random either. They're targeted! And every single one of them is more than 100% of his power!_

All Might eventually threw a left hook that sent Nomu flying, earning a sneer from Tomura. All Might took no time to leap after his opponent who was now quickly trying to recover. Nomu jumped up into the air, trying to land a hit on All Might, only for the Huntsman to quickly counter and send him crashing back down into the concrete. All Might himself now made contact with the ground, only to grab Nomu and bring the two of them back into the air. With a firm grip on Nomu's arm, he spun the beast around and whipped him back to the ground, causing the concrete around Nomu to break apart. Before Nomu could do anything, All Might himself made contact with the ground, now standing right in front of his opponent.

" **Now for a lesson. You may have heard these words before, but I'll teach you what they really mean!"** All Might brought his fist back and the glow from his Aura which once surrounded his entire body was now focused solely into his arm. " **GO BEYOND! PLUS…"** All Might dug his fist deep into Nomu's body.

" **ULTRAAAAAAA!"** All Might's punch sent Nomu flying into the air with such force the beast was sent flying out of the BRTC, causing an explosion as he collided with the complex's walls. The entire building shook, causing CRDL, whose members were still scattered throughout the facility, to wonder what had caused the ground around them to shake. Team JNPR barely caught the sight of Nomu being sent out of the building, eliciting cheer of excitement as they watched over their professors.

"That was like the finisher in a fighting game! He beat his way through the Shock Absorption." Yang said in awe.

"He must've attacked so fast he couldn't regenerate," Blake said.

 _He really is the best._ Shoto thought.

 _That's what it takes to be Number One._ Katsuki thought.

"He did it…" Izuku said as he looked at the smoke stack where All Might stood.

 **(End Music)**

" **Looks like I have gotten weaker. Back in my heyday, it would've taken no more than five hits to deal with that guy."** All Might pressed his fist up to his chest. " **But today, it took more than 300 mighty blows!"** Izuku's expression of worried now turned into one of relief. Steam began to form from All Might's neck. _**Outta time. Now to wrap things up!**_ The Hunter turned towards Tomura and Kurogiri. " **You've been bested, criminals. Now surrender, we all want to get this over with quickly."**

Tomura shook in rage.

"You… _cheated…_ You've gotten weaker? Not that I can see. You've got us outmatched. And to make it worse, you took out _my_ Nomu! You cheated! You're not weak at all! Don't tell me that Master lied to me!" Tomura violently itched at his neck.

 _ **Master?**_ All Might thought before continuing his taunts. " **Not gonna try and get me? You did say you wanted to clear the level. If you can take me, bring it on!"**

"We clearly aren't ready to compete at this level," Shoto said.

"You're right. Getting involved would likely mean we'd get taken hostage." Tenya said.

"Let's just stay back," Weiss said. Izuku continued to stare at his mentor.

 _He's bluffing. It's mixed in with the dust cloud, but the same steam that forms when he transforms is leaking out. He's at his limit!_ Izuku thought.

 _ **That Nomu guy was too much. If I were to move another inch, I'd revert to my true form! I'll just have to keep them scared until help arrives.**_ " **What's the matter?"** All Might taunted.

"If only Nomu was still here! He almost had him!" Tomura said as he scratched his neck.

"Calm yourself Tomura Shigaraki," Kurogiri said. "It appears as if Nomu did manage to inflict significant damage on All Might. Those children are staying out of the fight, and reinforcements from the school will be here soon. But if the two of us attack together, we still have a chance.

"...Yes. Right, right, right." Tomura lowered his hands from his neck. "This is it. It's time to take down the Final Boss."

"All Might's got this in the bag. If he could take out that big guy, these two'll be no trouble." Yang said. "Let's go try and help the others." Yang as she and the others began to walk away from the fight. Well, almost everyone.

"Izuku?" Shoto asked as the green leader was frozen in place still looking at the fight. As the others began to walk away, Shoto and Weiss stayed behind, waiting for their classmate. Katsuki looked back at the mention of his partner's name.

"Quit standing with your thumb up your ass and get moving, Deku!" Izuku didn't move, causing Katsuki to pause in surprise.

 _He must be at his limit. He won't be able to keep us with that mist guy. If these villains attack him, he's done. And I'm the only one who knows..._

"You're dead, _Huntsman_!" Tomura yelled as he and Kurogiri blitzed All Might.

 _ **This is it!**_ All Might thought as he struggled to raise up his left arm. _**Holy shit this is bad! Where is everyone? I need backup!**_ As the two villains closed in on the helpless Hunter, a green blur shot directly towards them.

 _Only I know how much trouble he's in!_ Izuku thought as he used One For All to launch himself at Kurogiri.

"Huh?!" Shoto yelled out as Izuku appeared to travel the gap in an instant, leaving a small shockwave behind him.

"Izuku!" Weiss yelled out.

 _He's fast!_ Tomura thought.

Izuku felt the pain in his legs. _Broken again! I controlled One For All before, but I couldn't this time. At least I made it! Just gotta aim for his body!_ "Get away from All Might!" Izuku yelled. Tomura quickly plunged his right hand into Kurogiri's smoke, only for it to appear on the other side of the mist, right in front of Izuku's face. Tomura laughed in glee.

"I won't fall for the same trick twice!" Kurogiri said. Before Tomura could touch Izuku, however, a shot of Fire Dust impacted Tomura's hand, knocking it back into the portal and away from Izuku, singing Tomura's hand. Kurogiri quickly warped himself and Tomura back several feet, leaving Izuku to fall to the ground right next to All Might.

" **They're here."** All Might said with relief.

"I apologize for taking so long." A stoic voice spoke from the building's entrance. "But I did make sure to bring some backup along with me." Standing at the top of the stairs was Ozpin, Port, who'd used his weapon, Blowhard, to shoot Tomura's hand, Oobleck, Present Mic, and Glynda.

"Dammit, their backup's here… game over. Guess we'll have to restart this level another time. Let's go home, Kurog-"

"Going somewhere?" Tomura was interrupted by Ozpin, who was now directly in front of him. Before the criminal could move, the Headmaster delivered a series of jabs with his cane, The Long Memory, to Tomura's chest, stomach, and limbs, the villain's jet black Aura shattering. Before any more damage could be done, Kurogiri engulfed Tomura in smoke, forcing Ozpin to jump back.

"I may have failed this time, but when we see each other next, Symbol of Peace, you're dead!" Tomura said as Kurogiri warped the two of them out of the building. Ozpin frowned and slowly tapped his cane against the concrete.

"I… couldn't do anything…" Izuku said as he struggled to stand.

" **That's no** t true…" All Might said. Izuku looked up to see that All Might's left side, the side visible to the other students, was the only side still in his Hunter form. His right side had reverted to its normal form. "Had you not given me those few seconds you did, I'd be dead! You've saved me yet again, Young Midoriya." Tears began to form in Izuku's eyes.

"I'm so glad… you're okay, All Might!" Izuku said.

Ozpin smiled at the sight. "Looks like you had a fun time, huh Toshinori."

"Real funny, Oz." All Might joked back as he whipped blood from his mouth. "Glad you got here when you did."

"I'm just surprised they would flee so soon. I was hoping to have a chat with them." Ozpin responded. "We'll figure out how they got in once we tend to the students.

"Izuku, are you ok?" Izuku turned to see Ruby, Weiss, Tenya, and Shoto all running towards them.

"You broke your legs again, didn't you?" Shoto asked.

 _Those kids… glad to see they have good hearts. Miss Rose and Miss Schnee are even working together, at least a little bit. Oh crap! If they come over here they'll see my true form!_ Before that could happen, however, and invisible force lifted the four teens up and away from Izuku and back towards the entrance. The four landed at the feet of Glynda.

"We can deal with the wounded. You students go up to the main entrance so we know everyone's safe." Though they all wanted to protest, the thought of getting yelled at by Glynda made them reluctantly go up to the main entrance. Glynda walked over to meet with Ozpin.

"Thanks for the save. I owe you one, Glynda." Toshinori said as he slowly sat down, now entirely in his true form.

"Let's worry about getting you to Peach before we worry about owing me anything. You seriously need to stop overdoing it, Toshinori."

"Overdoing it is the only reason I'm alive." Toshinori retorted. "They were just that strong. One of their guys had multiple Semblances." Those words gave pause to both Glynda and Ozpin. "And the hand-faced guy mentioned having a Master." Glynda paled before turning to Ozpin. The Headmaster sighed.

"No reason to jump to conclusions, yet. We can discuss details further once we have the building secure. The police should already be on their way." Ozpin said.

Izuku watched the three adults talk and tried to keep up with what they were saying.

 _Multiple Semblances… have they met someone with multiple before?_

 _And who's this 'Master' guy?_

* * *

 _Same Time, Unknown Bar in Vale_

Tomura emerged from Kurogiri's portal before falling to his hands and knees. He quickly removed "Father" from his face before coughing up blood all over the floor.

"Dammit! I got shot in the hand, slashed on the sides, and that worthless Headmaster must've crushed a dozen bones. They took out Nomu too. Our perfect weapon got crushed. Even the kids were tough. The Symbol of Peace is in perfect health. You were wrong, Master." Tomura said.

 _"No, I wasn't."_ A calm voice spoke through a T.V. with the words "Sound Only" on them. " _We simply got ahead of ourselves. We underestimated All Might is all. Good thing you managed to acquire those criminals from Roman Torchwick on the cheap. And what did happen to Nomu? Did you retrieve him?"_

"Even if I had enough Aura left to do that, he was sent flying from the facility. No amount of warping will help until we ascertain his exact coordinates." Kurogiri said.

" _And after all the trouble we went through to make him as strong as All Might… what a shame. I'm sure the doctor will be disheartened at the news."_

"'Strong'… that reminds me. There was one kid there. He moved so fast. And he could throw a good punch, too. He reminded me of All Might." Tomura said.

" _...Oh?"_

"If he hadn't gotten in our way, we would've cleared the level! But that damn brat!"

" _It's natural to be upset, but do not fret, Tomura. This endeavor was not entirely fruitless. Find stronger pawns, take all the time you need. I may not be able to move freely right now, but you can. I require a symbol like you, Tomura Shigaraki! Next time you strike, let all of Remnant know the true depth of your strength!"_

* * *

 _Later that day, Beacon Academy_

In the hours following the BRTC Incident, police and medics showed up to the facility. They took questions from the students and tended to any injuries. None of the students suffered any major injuries, save for Izuku. Professor Aizawa suffered major injuries to his arms and his eyes, though he managed to avoid brain damage. Thirteen suffered lacerations along her back and upper arms. Both were taken to the hospital in Vale, though neither's life was in danger.

As for the Symbol of Peace and his successor, they were resting in Professor Peach's office.

"You're reeeaal lucky Toshi. If it were any other situation, I would've scolded you by now." The nurse said.

"I've definitely shortened my time limit again. If I'm lucky, I'll still be able to get an hour a day out of One For All." Toshinori responded. The Hunter sat up in his bed, eliciting worry from his student. "Well whaddya gonna do? Bad things happen! You just have to keep moving forward."

"Well if you three hadn't put your lives on the line, there's no doubt the students wouldn't have escaped unscathed."

"That may be true, however," All Might turned towards Izuku and gave him a smile. "These students put their lives on the line just as much as we did." Izuku smiled back. "They were thrown into a real battle at such a young age and survived. Those criminals were foolish to pick a fight with them. This next generation of Hunters will be a mighty one indeed!"

* * *

 **A/N**

 **And that's the USJ Arc done and done!**

 **Chapter Commentary**

 **-I'm really happy with how the JNPR scene turned out. I decided against doing to full-on Jaundice Arc for this story as a) I didn't really like it in the original show and b) I didn't want to halt the flow of this story to write it. Therefore, this is basically the Jaundice of this story. I took out the part with CRDL being in it as I really don't have any plans with them for this story, so I decided to take them out and just focus on JNPR and Jaune learning to be confident in himself in a vacuum. I like how the fight turned out overall too, focusing on tactics over brute force.**

 **-One of the things that I've brought up in chapters before, but haven't really elaborated on, is the idea of "sensing" Aura. I imagine it's pretty intuitive, but if you're still confused, everyone's Soul gives off a sort of energy in the environment through a person's Aura, and each one is unique. If a person practices, they're able to sense where a person is based on their Aura alone. You can think of it like sensing Aura in HunterxHunter, or sensing someone's chakra in Naruto. Shoto's done it twice before and Ren did it this chapter. It is possible to hide your Aura from detection, which is what Blake did last chapter when she first got teleported.**

 **-Hopefully the part with Aizawa using his Semblance even after Nomu broke his arms made sense. I know I was kind of stretching logic there, but that moment was just too cool in the original show to not include it. Again, he basically took his Aura down consciously in order to save energy to use his Erasure for helping the students.**

 **-We finally got to see All Might vs Nomu. I was really worried about writing this fight, as although it's relatively short (at least after You Say Run kicks in), the choreography of the fight in the anime could be hard to follow at times, and I didn't just want the fight to play out the way it did in the Manga, as although it is cool, the fight in the anime was much better. I know I kept it pretty short, but hopefully it's still cool. The part with his Aura glowing is inspired by Nen battles in HunterXHunter, and was basically showing him going all out.**

 **-I tried to give all the kids something to do in the fight as well, and even gave Ozpin a cool moment to show off just how fast he is. The only one who didn't really do anything is Blake, who I intentionally kept out, mainly cause her mind would've been too distracted by the presence of the White Fang to be at 100%, but she'll have a lot to do in the coming chapters, so don't worry.**

 **-Lastly, we got to see, or rather hear, All For One for the first time. His talk is basically a carbon copy of what he said in the Anime/Manga, but hopefully it was still good. I know there was also another person talking originally, but I cut him from the conversation as this character has only recently really gotten flushed out in the Manga, so I still need to figure out what I want to do with him. He did get alluded to by AFO in the conversation though.**

 **-Also, this story is now over a year old! In retrospect, I wish I had written more, but I'm not dissatisfied with what I've written. And hey, 14K views for your first story's first eight isn't too bad.**

 **Reviews**

 **RHatch89- Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed it!**

 **1jesus- Thanks, and don't worry, I have no intention of changing Izuku x Weiss.**

 **Trey Alexander- I'm not 100% sure exactly how I want to deal with good ol' Adam Taurus. While I think the writers dropped the ball with him, especially in Volume 5, I don't dislike the way he turned out as much as other people seem to. I do definitely have a lot of changes I want to make to Blake's Arc during Volumes 4 and 5, and Adam will likely be a part of that, but I can't give you a definite answer. I will try to make him more morally gray than being a complete asshole though!**

 **Hero- I'm glad you enjoy the chapter, however, I'm not taking any requests for other stories at this time, sorry.**

 **Dracus6- Same as the above, not taking story requests at this time.**

 **Next chapter I plan on having some slightly original stuff plot-wise, but we're basically getting into the finale of Volume 1.**

 **See ya next time!**


	10. Hunt For The Truth

**I do not own RWBY nor My Hero Academia all rights belong to Monty Oum and Kohei Horikoshi and their respective publishing companies.**

 **I do not own the cover image.**

 **Chapter 10: Hunt For The Truth**

* * *

 _8:00 A.M., MSKI Dorm_

Izuku stepped into the dorm room, a tray full of drinks in hand. "I think I got it all right. Green Tea for Shoto, Orange Juice for Tenya, and Coffee for me and Kacchan."

"You better not have put too much cream in there, Deku," Katsuki said as he walked up and grabbed the coffee from the tray.

"I would've thought you'd take your coffee completely black. It certainly matches your attitude." Shoto said as he got up from his bed and walked over to Izuku.

"Shut up, Icy-Hot!" Katsuki yelled as he walked over to his desk and began to drink.

"Weren't you the one complaining about his yelling at the beginning of the year?" Tenya asked as he too grabbed his drink.

"I've learned to live with it. Plus it can be fun to provoke him at times." Shoto said as he sipped from his tea. "You didn't have to do this Izuku. You were in the Nurse's Office most of the night. There's no real need to be helping us out with such little thing."

"It's alright, I ended up sleeping for most of the day when we got back, so I was up earlier than usual. Figured I might as well help out." Izuku said as he set down the tray on a nearby desk before grabbing his coffee from it. "Besides, I can't be a Hunter, let alone a Leader, if I let a little injury keep me down, right?"

"Breaking your legs isn't a 'little' injury, Izuku," Shoto said, causing Izuku to laugh and scratch the back of his head nervously.

"Speaking of which, I trust your wounds don't hurt after Professor Peach healed them?" Tenya asked.

"Yep, good as new!" Izuku said.

"Good. If that's the case, then we'd like to get your opinion on something." Tenya said.

"Sure, what's up?"

"Well while you were out getting our drinks we were talking and-"

"We wanna find Grim Legion bastards." Katsuki interrupting Tenya.

"Way to put it bluntly, Katsuki," Shoto said as he sipped his tea.

"Y-You guys… wanna go after them?" Izuku asked.

"Icy-Hot and I are all for it. Four-Eyes doesn't wanna bite though." Katsuki said.

"You two both saw how dangerous they were, how badly they injured Thirteen and Professor Aizawa! It would be suicide to go after them alone!" Tenya responded.

"And it would be equally suicidal to let them go unchecked. Even if we find the tiniest bit of information, it could still be useful." Shoto retorted.

"And only three of them were worth a damn, and the most dangerous one was captured. Assuming they're mostly mooks, we can blow them away easily." Katsuki said.

"Please tell me you see how dangerous this is, Izuku," Tenya asked.

"I...um…"

* * *

 _The Previous Evening, Recovery Girls' Office_

"I see. So that's what happened." Ozpin said after listening to Izuku and Toshinori's stories. "I'll have Glynda question to other students on what happened tomorrow, see if there's anything important you two didn't see with your own eyes."

"A creature that could push you to your limits… and with Multiple Semblances. That is most worrying." Glynda said.

"What can you tell me about the other two? Tomura Shigaraki and Kurogiri, right?" Ozpin asked.

"Well, Shigaraki seemed to be the one calling the shots. At least, he was the one telling the Nomu what to do. You've already seen Kurogiri's Warp Gate Semblance. And from what Young Midoriya has told me, Tomura has some sort of Decay Semblance," Toshinori said.

Izuku nodded. "Weiss and I only saw it for a split second, but when he touched Professor Aizawa's arm, it began to disintegrate away, even though his Aura."

"When Shigaraki confronted me, he started going on about this ridiculous ideology, some anarchist nonsense. And he kept going on about how strong Nomu was. And then, when things started going bad, he had a full-on temper tantrum. He's some kind of man child." All Might concluded.

"I see. An ill-tempered boy should be relatively easy to deal with, assuming we don't have to deal with any more creatures like that Nomu." Ozpin said.

"That reminds me, sir, police officers managed to find that Nomu. They reported that he was unharmed and that he wasn't resisting arrest. In fact, he didn't respond in any to the police." Glynda said.

"A mindless soldier, and a powerful one at that. How easily controlled." Ozpin responded. "Well, I think that should be all. I'll let you two rest up now." Ozpin slowly walked over to the exit with Glynda right behind him.

"W-Wait, Professor Ozpin," Izuku said.

"Yes, Mr. Midoriya?" Ozpin asked.

"Um… I know it already got mentioned at the BRTC, but… that Shigaraki guy mentioned having a Master. You don't have any idea who that could be, do you?" Izuku asked. The room seemed to become entirely still, as Izuku waited for his answer. Toshinori's eyes widened, and Glynda seemed to have the color drained from her face. Ozpin kept staring ahead at the door, not turning back to look at Izuku.

"I have some hunches, yes. I assume Glynda and Toshinori are thinking of the same person I am. But there's no reason to jump to unnecessary conclusions." Ozpin turned now to face Izuku, stoic as ever. "We'll make sure to handle things, Mr. Midoriya. You just focus on your training and making your team the best you can be. We'll look into things, I assure you." With that, Ozpin and Glynda exited the room, leaving the two users of One For All alone.

"Hey, All Might, who do you guys think it is?" Izuku asked, turning to look at his mentor, only to find his face obscured by his hair. Toshinori waited for a moment before turning to Izuku.

"Don't worry, it'll all be alright!" Toshinori said with a smile as he reached and patted Izuku on the back. "Let us adults work on this for now. I promise you won't be in the dark forever, Young Midoriya, but there's no need to put the weight of Remnant on your shoulders just yet. Now, I'm exhausted, let's get some shut-eye." All Might laid down the bed, turning his back towards the Izuku. The teen paused before doing the same, watching the sunset through the window.

Izuku didn't think All Might would actually fall asleep any time soon.

* * *

 _Present Time_

"...well," Izuku said as he scratched his cheek. "It would be pretty reckless of us to go after them. I know the teachers gave us the next few days off after the attack, but I think that was more to recuperate, not a chance to go investigating."

"Finally, some sensibility," Tenya said.

"No surprise there, damn nerd," Katsuki grumbled under his breath.

"Look, I understand where you're coming from, but it won't be nearly as dangerous as the BRTC was. If we go looking for them, we'll have the element of surprise, not them. Plus there's no reason that we have to fight them. We can just investigate and leave if things look like they're going to get dangerous." Shoto said.

Tenya sighed. "I'm guessing you two will go looking whether we come with you or not."

"I'm going even if I have to go alone. Those bastards deserve it." Katsuki said.

"We wouldn't exactly be acting like Hunters if we weren't trying to protect Remnant from danger," Shoto said.

"If that's the case, then I shall accompany you. However, at the first sign of trouble, I'm making sure you get out of there without getting into a fight!" Tenya declared as he pushed up his glasses.

"If that's what it takes to get you to go along then fine, I'll take it," Katsuki said as he began thinking over in his head how to slip out of Tenya's sights if a fight did start.

"I guess that's three. What about you Izuku?" Shoto asked. Izuku flinched at the question.

 _Ozpin and All Might both said not to go after them. But if these guys are already going to do it, I might as well be there to make sure they don't get hurt._ "Ok, I'm in," Izuku said. "Do you guys have a lead or something?"

"We have no idea where even start."

"Way to put it bluntly, Half-and-Half."

"That does pose a significant problem. None of us here are native to Vale's namesake city." Tenya said as he brought a hand up to his chin.

"Yeah and I never really went into the city that often," Izuku said. "What about you, Kacchan?"

"Nope, city life bores me," Katsuki said.

"Didn't you say you and Ruby had a run-in with a criminal before you came here, Izuku?" Shoto asked.

"Wait, really? You never mentioned this!" Tenya said in shock.

"O-Oh, yeah. It got brought up the night before Initiation but I guess we never had a reason to talk about it after that. Ruby and I ran into Roman Torchwick when he was robbing a Dust Store downtown."

"Roman Torchwick? Isn't he one of Vale's most wanted criminals right now? How did this never get brought up?" Tenya asked. Katsuki sprung out of his chair and got up in Izuku's face.

"Trying to surpass me in secret, huh, ya damn nerd!" The grenadier said as he created small explosions in his hand.

"I-it wasn't like that, I swear! Ruby did most of the work, anyway!" Izuku pleaded.

"Well, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to ask around about Roman Torchwick. If he's a top criminal, he'll probably have heard of the Grim Legion, maybe even dealt with them. Plus, Shoto mentioned that there were White Fang there, so that would make three groups to ask about." Tenya said.

 _White Fang? I should definitely message this to All Might._ Izuku thought.

"Alright, we should probably start with any prep work we'll need to do tonight. We'll need to get supplies to do this." Shoto said.

"I need to restock on Fire Dust. Wasted it all fighting yesterday." Katsuki said.

"We can probably do most of the shopping tomorrow. I heard a hardware store downtown was having a clearance sale. It sounds like a good place for basic supplies." Tenya said.

"Won't we still have to deal with _finding_ them though?" Izuku asked.

"The nerd's right. If we're gonna be asking whoever we find, we won't get anywhere unless we ask a lot of people, which means covering a massive territory. We should probably split up." Katsuki said.

"If we do that, then we risk being in more danger if we get caught by the people we're after!" Tenya said. "I can't watch over you three from the other side of Vale."

"Then I guess you just won't be able to stop any fights I get into," Katsuki said smugly.

"Or we could ask for some help," Izuku said.

"Yeah? From who?" Katsuki asked.

 ***SLAM***

All four teens turned to the door to see a blur of red zoom into their room.

"Hey, guys," Ruby said. "Sorry for barging in, but I was wondering if you guys would willing to help us-"

"Go search for the Grim Legion? We were planning the same thing." Shoto said. Ruby paused before looking down at the floor.

"Is that not why you're here?" Izuku asked.

"No, it is. I just wanted to be the first one to have the idea." Ruby said as she kicked the ground dejectedly.

* * *

 _The Next Day, Vale Commercial District_

 **(Cue - The Voice in My Heart - Violet Evergarden OST)**

"I'm so glad we came to the Commercial District. We get to see all the preparations for the Vytal Festival. How wonderful!" Weiss said.

"I don't think I've ever seen you smile this much, Weiss. It's kinda weirding me out." Ruby said, earning a frown from her partner.

"How could I not? A festival dedicated to the cultures of the world! There will be dances! Parades! A tournament! Oh, the amount of planning and organization that goes into this event is simply breathtaking! I doubt any of you could truly appreciate it!" Weiss responded.

"Way to make it sound boring, Ice Queen," Katsuki said.

"Quiet you brute!" Weiss said.

Currently, Weiss, Ruby, Katsuki, Izuku, and Blake were walking in the heart of Vale's Commerical District. After MSKI had agreed to team up RWBY, how had also recruited JNPR, the three teams had planned to have all twelve members scatter throughout Vale both to gather supplies and get whatever intel they could through about their targets. The five aforementioned students were primarily there for supplies. The reason all five of them went together was that the Commerical District was Vale's largest in size.

Yang and Shoto were in the Industrial District, finding any expensive, heavy-duty supplies their group might need while also looking for any clues. The Industrial District was the second biggest, but the pair had Yang's bike, Bumblebee, to make the process much faster.

Ren, Nora, and Pyrrha went into the Agricultural District. They figured it would worth checking there as if a large group like the White Fang was in Vale now, and if the Grim Legion still had more thugs at their disposal, they would need to keep them well-fed. That meant there would probably be large purchases for food, which were often handled directly in the Agricultural District.

As for Tenya and Jaune, they were directly asking for information in the Residential Area from whoever they could find.

"I hear that students from the other Kingdoms are arriving soon, Vacuo's supposed to be first, but Atlas and Mistral shouldn't be too far behind. As a representative of Beacon, I feel as though it is my solemn duty to welcome them to this fine kingdom!" Weiss said.

"She wants to spy on them so she'll have the upper hand in the tournament," Blake said.

"You can't prove that!" Weiss scoffed.

"Aren't we supposed the be out here getting supplies and searching for clues?" Izuku asked.

"There's no reason we can't multitask." Weiss retorted.

"So, where's our first stop, Izuku?" Ruby asked.

"There's a Dust Shop we can go to right around here. In fact, it should be right over… whoa…" Izuku trailed off. All five students turned to see the Dust Shop in question in what one might conservatively call poor condition. The window of the shop was shattered and covered over in yellow tape. The entrance to the shop was barricaded by a wall of yellow tape as well, courtesy of two detectives from the Vale Police Force. Next to them was a familiar set of yellow hair and a black jacket. The five students walked up the line of tape.

 **(End Music)**

"Professor Yamada," Izuku called, causing their teacher to glance over his shoulder. He gave a quick word to the detectives before walking over to them.

"Hey there. Wasn't expecting to see you five out here. Also a quick rule of thumb kid: When your teachers are out in the field, call them by their Hunter Names." Present Mic responded.

"O-Oh, sorry. We were just curious about what happened here." Izuku responded.

"Robbery, not much else to say. It's the second Dust Shop to be hit this week though. Usually, Eraser would deal with this kinda stuff with the police but since he's still in the hospital the job got passed to me." Mic responded.

"How are he and Thirteen doing?" Blake asked.

"They had some pretty bad injuries, but they should pull through. I'm mainly worried about Eraser's eyes. They still need to do tests to determine how bad the damage is. If it's really bad, he may have significant trouble using his Semblance as much as he usually would."

"That's terrible," Ruby responded quietly.

"Hey, don't worry about it. I've known Shota since we got placed on the same team at Beacon. He won't let a little injury like that get in his way, especially if it will cause people to worry about him. He's probably more worried about that than the damage, to be honest."

"I suppose that's good then," Weiss said.

'Say, what are you kids doing out here anyway?" Mic asked, causing the teens to panic. Well, most of them.

"Ice Queen wanted to spy on the arrivals from the other schools," Katsuki said bluntly, causing Weiss to flick her head back and give the teen a death stare.

"Hah! The ol' spy tactic, eh? I know for a fact Eraser would approve of that! Probably call it 'the most rational strategy possible'. Well, good luck then, I gotta get back to working with these useless detectives." After whispering that last part, Hizashi Yamada turned and walked back to the police officers.

"Why would you sell me out like that?" Weiss whispered harshly.

"It's not like I'm wrong," Katsuki said.

"That's not the point!" Weiss responded.

"At least this way we're not entirely lying to our teacher," Izuku said.

"Hey, be quiet," Ruby said as she pointed to the conversation Present Mic and the detectives were having.

"We double-checked. All the money's still there." One of the detectives said.

"Just like the last one then?" Mic asked.

"Yeah. Who even needs that much Dust?" The other detective asked.

"You thinking the White Fang?" The first detective asked.

"I wouldn't say it's outside the realm of possibility," Mic said. This caught all of their attentions. They silently walked away, waiting until they were out of earshot before talking.

Weiss crossed her arms. "The White Fang. What an awful bunch of degenerates!"

"What's your problem?" Blake asked.

"If by 'problem' you mean I don't feel any sympathy for psychopaths and criminals, then I suppose _that's_ my problem," Weiss said.

Blake too crossed her arms. "They're not psychopaths and criminals. They're a group of misguided Faunus."

"You think wanting the total destruction of Humanity counts as misguided?"

"Fine! _Very_ misguided! That still doesn't explain why they would rob a Dust Shop in downtown Vale."

"Blake's got a point. The police still haven't caught Roman Torchwick, and Izuku and I ran into him when he was robbing a Dust Shop."

"Yeah and I'm pretty sure he was only interested in the Dust too, not the money," Izuku said.

Weiss was beginning to grow flustered. "That still doesn't change the fact that the White Fang are a bunch of scum. Those Faunus only know how to lie, cheat, and steal."

"Think you might be exaggerating there, Ice Queen," Katsuki said.

"Hey, stop that Faunus!"

All five teens turned towards the nearby dockyards towards the yelling coming from a rather large boat where two sailors were chasing someone down.

That someone was a teenage boy with short, spikey light-blonde hair and blue eyes. He wore a loose collared white jacket with no shirt underneath, blue cargo pants, red gauntlets, and black fingerless gloves. He wore a golden pendant with a monkey symbol tied to a black cord around his neck. His most defining feature was his light-blonde monkey tail.

"Thanks for the ride!" The teen yelled as he effortlessly lept off the boat and onto the docks bellow.

"No-good stowaway!" One of the sailors called out as the monkey Faunus used his tail to hand upside down on a lamppost.

He pulled out a banana from his pocket and began to peel it. "A no-good stowaway would've been caught. I'm a _great_ stowaway!" As he began to eat the banana, two dockworkers walked up to the base of the lamppost, ordering him down. He promptly responded by throwing a banana peel in one of their faces, laughing to himself as he jumped off the post and began to run from the docks towards the five teens, two dock workers following after him. As he ran past them, he winked at Blake, a gesture only she managed to catch before running down the street.

"Who was that?" Ruby questioned.

"You think he was a student from one of the other schools?" Izuku asked.

"If that's the case then we have no time to lose. We must observe him!" Weiss said before running after the teen. The other four quickly joined her, though Blake hesitated for a second, still dazed after the Faunus' wink.

As Weiss rounded a corner after the Faunus, she accidentally bumped into something, causing her to fall to the ground. She looked up just as the others rounded the same corner, only to see their target leap from the streets onto a balcony and then onto a rooftop. "He got away!" Weiss cried out.

"Uhh… Weiss, who's that?" Izuku asked. Weiss looked directly down to see that the something she had run into was actually a someone.

The girl Weiss had run into had curly orange hair with a pink bow, a whiteish-gray bulse with feminine overalls, and black stockings. She stared in curiosity at the heiress with a pair of bright green eyes. Weiss, startled, picked herself up.

"Salutations!" The girl said with a wave.

"Uhh… hi." Ruby said. "Are you ok?"

"I'm wonderful, thank you for asking." She responded. The whole group exchanged looks of bewilderment, except for Katsuki, who looked like he wanted to be anywhere else.

"Do you, uh, wanna get up?" Izuku asked. The girl thought for a moment.

"I would." The girl proceeded to leap onto her feet, starling the other teens even further. "My name is Penny. It is a pleasure to meet you all!"

"Hi, Penny. I'm Ruby." The redhead responded.

"I'm Weiss."

"Blake."

"Izuku."

"Let's go. We have things to do." Katsuki said as he was already walking away.

"S-Sorry about that," Izuku quickly tried to cover. "Kacchan can be like that sometimes."

"I see. It is nice to meet you as well, Kacchan!" Penny called out. Katsuki flinched before turning his head back a giving Izuku a look that made the young successor want to run away as fast as possible.

"It's a pleasure to meet you all!" Penny said to Weiss and Blake as she ignored the fight going on just next to them involving Ruby trying her best to stop Katsuki from killing Izuku.

"You already said that," Blake said.

Penny paused for a moment. "So I did."

"Well… sorry for running into you." Weiss said as she and Blake turned around and began to walk away. They were joined by Katsuki, Ruby, and Izuku, with the latter two brushing dust off their clothes from Katsuki's Semblance.

"Take care friend!" Ruby said over her shoulder.

"That girl had a few screws loose," Katsuki said under his breath.

"What did you just say?" Penny asked. She had somehow moved in front of the group, specifically in front of the group's grenadier.

"Hey, look, I call it like I see it. If you've got a problem with-"

"Not you," Penny said as she cut Katsuki off before moving in front of Ruby. " _You_."

"M-Me? Um… I, uh, I'm not…"

"You called me 'friend'. Am I really your friend?" Penny asked the speedster. Ruby looked over Penny's shoulder to see Weiss and Blake both motioning to say no. Izuku's expression said 'sure, why not?' while Katsuki was till too angry over Penny calling him Kacchan to give a response.

"Umm… yeah, sure!" Ruby said to the disappointment of her teammates and Izuku's approval.

"Sensational! We can paint our nails, and try on clothes, and talk about cute boys!" Penny said in jubilation.

 _Gods it's another Ruby…_ Weiss thought.

"I was worried it would take me forever to make a friend here in Vale," Penny said.

"Well, you've got another friend right here," Izuku said as he pointed to himself.

"How splendid. Would you also like to paint nails, try on clothes, and talk about boys with us?" Penny asked. Izuku froze up at the question, along with the other three girls, while Katsuki almost fell over laughing.

"I-I, uhhhhh… I d-don't know, we'll have to see. Y-You're from out of town? Where from?" Izuku asked with a now bright red face.

"I'm from Atlas. I've come to represent my home Kingdom in the Vytal Tournament!" Penny said, not even registering Izuku's embarrassment.

" _You're_ from Atlas Academy?" Weiss asked.

"Indeed. I am Combat Ready!" Penny said.

"Forgive me, but you don't exactly look the part," Weiss said.

"You fight in a dress and high heels," Katsuki said, still recovering from his fit of laughter.

"Could you be any more annoying?" Weiss asked rhetorically. "And more importantly, if you're here for the tournament, does that mean you know that monkey-tailed rapscallion that just ran by?"

"The who?" Penny asked.

"The filthy Faunus stowaway that just ran by you!" Weiss said.

"Why do you keep saying that?" Blake asked.

"Huh?" Weiss asked.

"Don't call him a rapscallion! Or a degenerate! Or filthy! Or anything else like that! He's a person!" Blake yelled.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Weiss said sarcastically. "While I'm at it, should I stop calling this trash can a trash can? This lamppost a lamppost?"

"Stop it!"

"Stop what, stating the obvious? We just saw him _break the law_! Give it two weeks at most, I'm sure you'll find him conspiring with those other animals in the White Fang!" Ruby and Izuku were beginning to grow increasingly uncomfortable. Even Katsuki seemed fazed by Weiss' words.

"You ignorant little brat!" Blake shouted.

"How dare you talk to me like that! I am your teammate!"

"You are a judgmental little girl."

"Why would you say that?"

"One look at his tail you instantly say he's no better than a terrorist. You're a disgusting bigot!"

Katsuki walked up next to Izuku and Ruby. "Let's get out of here before things get worse." He said quietly.

"Where are we going?" Penny asked innocently.

"So the White Fang are radical terrorists! Glad we can finally agree on something today." Weiss said.

"That's not what I meant, and you know it!" Blake retorted.

* * *

 _Same Day, 8:25 PM, MSKI Dorm Room_

"After that, they kept arguing until we got back to the dorms," Izuku explained to Shoto and Tenya as Team MSKI sat in their dorm, going over the day's occurrences.

"I predicted Ms. Schnee wouldn't be particularly fond of the White Fang, but for her to go after all Faunus like that…" Tenya said.

"Do people really get that mad at all Faunus back in Atlas?" Izuku asked.

"It can be exceedingly common amongst the higher classes, yes," Tenya said.

"And you're still surprised that she could be that racist? And isn't your family pretty upper class, Four Eyes?" Katuski asked.

"Well to answer your first question, my experiences with Weiss' elder sister, limited as they were, showed no signs of such bigotry. And while the Iida family is upper class, we're a family of Hunters, not of businessmen and aristocrats. We don't get invited to nearly as many events as Weiss' family does." Tenya said.

"It's pretty similar in Mistral, though not to the same extent as Atlas. Things have been getting progressively better since the Great War ended." Shoto said.

"Speaking of family, I wanted to let you know ahead of time that my brother Tensei will be coming to Vale in about a week," Tenya said.

"You're brother? Isn't he an Atlesian Specialist?" Izuku asked.

"That's correct, he's one of General Ironwood's best Hunters," Tenya said with a hint of pride.

"Why would your brother even come to Vale?" Shoto asked.

"Apparently General Ironwood is traveling with the students from Atlas to attend the Vytal Festival. He's brought my brother along to help with preparations and such." Tenya said.

"Well, I look forward to meeting a Hunter as skilled as Ingenium," Izuku said.

"If he's in the military, he probably has a stick shoved farther up his ass then you do," Katsuki said.

"I'm not sure if I'm angrier at you for saying that, or at the fact that I expected you to say something like that," Tenya said, earning a snicker from Katsuki.

"We should probably head over to Team RWBY's dorm soon. We still need to go everything from today with all twelve of us." Shoto said.

"Oh, right. Almost forgot the time." Izuku said as he and his teammates walked out of the room and towards Team RWBY's dorm. As they approached the dorm, the door suddenly opened and a black blur shot out, running away in the opposite direction before darting down another hallway.

All four teens stood stock still before Tenya began to speak. "Was that…"

"Blake, wait!" Ruby called out as she jumped out of the room, only to stop after seeing MSKI.

"A-Are they still arguing?" Izuku asked nervously.

"Things kinda got out of hand," Yang said as she walked out of the door, giving a quick glance around for her partner.

"Why's that?" Shoto asked.

"Because a terrorist can't keep her cool!" Weiss yelled as she stormed out the room past Team MSKI, heading the opposite way that Blake had.

Katsuki turned over his shoulder towards the heiress as she steamed away. "Looks like the pot's calling the kettle… wait, what'd she say?" He asked Ruby and Yang. The two sisters turned towards each other before looking at MSKI. Yang took a breath before speaking.

"We're pretty sure Blake's a Faunus."

 _Several Hours Later, Unknown Bar in Vale_

* * *

"So you're looking for new members," Roman said as he placed the empty shot glass down on the bar.

Currently, he was sat at the Grim Legion's Bar with Tomura a few seats to his left and Kurogiri behind the bar, as usual.

To his right was his partner in crime, Neopolitan, a short girl with an appropriately named color scheme. She wore a white tail jacket with a pink interior, button and one wide broad tail, brown pants, black gloves, and black and white boots with very high heels and multiple buttons on each side. Under her jacket was a brown corset, curved in the middle and at the bottom, exposing her hips. She also wore a multitude of necklaces, which hung haphazardly around her neck.

Neo's parasol, Hush, leaned against the base of the bar next to Roman's Melodic Cudgel.

"We are. And none of those useless NPCs you gave us last time. I'm talking people who can genuinely hold their own weight." Tomura said. Roman took notice of the bandages covering Tomura's arms, and the fact that he seemed to be in pain whenever he moved too quick.

 _Looks like he didn't make it out of that raid unscathed._ Roman thought. "Don't worry Tomura, my friend. I'll ensure your money doesn't go to waste." He said.

"If we might make a specific request, perhaps you could send some more soldiers from the White Fang. They seemed the more well-trained than the other thugs you brought us, and I'm sure they'll be eager, seeing as they didn't a chance to truly fight last time." Kurogiri said.

"I'm still pissed that they left our last raid early. Aren't those bastards supposed to be the ones with 'conviction' or whatever?" Tomura said.

"Well if you want to file a complaint with their boss, I'm sure I can get you in touch. However, it'll probably be a while before I can send them your request." Roman said.

"And why's that?" Tomura asked.

"I'm afraid all their forces are currently working with my _other_ client," Roman said.

"Your other…" Tomura brought his hand up to his neck and began to scratch. Neo stared at Tomura before giving Roman a look of confusion.

"He does that sometimes, you'll get used to it," Roman whispered to her.

"That bitch thinks she can just take up all the pawns she wants! I'll turn her to askes if I ever see her."

 _Heh, ashes._ Roman laughed to himself over Tomura's choice of words. "Sorry she got to 'em first. However, there have been some rumors going around in the northern parts of Vale. Rumors I haven't mentioned to _her_ yet." Roman said. Tomura stopped his scratching before adjusting his head so his piercing red eyes could get a better view of Roman.

"What kind of rumors?" The pale man asked.

"There's a certain criminal who's apparently coming into the Kingdom within then next few weeks. I can't say much about him since I've never met the guy, but I can probably help you track him down." Roman said.

"Tell me more."

"He's been running amuck in parts of Atlas, and, if the stories are true, he was doing the same in Mistral, for the past couple of years…

"People have been calling him Stain."

* * *

 **A/N**

 **That wraps up Chapter 10. It's a lot shorter than most of the other chapters, and it's mainly a set-up for things to come, but I hope it was enjoyable nevertheless.**

 **Chapter Commentary**

 **-I wanted the main cast to take a proactive approach in finding our more info on the villains. As for how much they find out before Volume 3 rolls around, that remains to be seen. I figured Tenya would be tentative to go after the villains, as he was in canon, while Shoto and Bakugo would be all for it, as they too are in canon.**

 **-Figured I'd throw Present Mic in there for the fun of it. Also, you guys now know two of the four members of Team ASHE, Aizawa and Mic (Hizashi). One of them shouldn't be too hard to guess. The other one you'll only know if you're up to date with the Manga (Chapter 253, in specific).**

 **-Most of the scene in Vale is unchanged, save for some new lines here and there from Deku and Bakugo. Hopefully it wasn't too boring to read. Threw in a Violet Evergarden OST cause I just finished the show and thought the track was casual enough to add to the scene. Violet Evergarden is on Netflix if you're interested in it, it's pretty good.**

 **-Three more RWBY characters in the show: Sun, Penny, and Neo. Hopefully, Penny's added comedy with Izuku and Katsuki was entertaining enough.**

 **-Finally, we get our first hints of the VS Hero Killer Arc. I plan to spend a bit more time with Iida's brother than the show did before he fights Stain. I'm also just very excited for the villains to be in the show more. They're fun to write.**


	11. Team RWBY

**I do not own RWBY nor My Hero Academia all rights belong to Monty Oum and Kohei Horikoshi and their respective publishing companies.**

 **I do not own the cover image.**

 **Chapter 11: Team RWBY**

* * *

 _10:00 A.M., Beacon Academy_

"I see. So that's why I haven't seen Miss Belladonna recently." All Might said.

"Yeah. At first we all just assumed she'd come back to the dorm the next night at the latest, but that was five days ago. We've been worried ever since." Izuku responded.

Currently, the mentor and protege were in All Might's office, discussing Team RWBY's runaway member.

"You say she ran away and left no trail. Do you have any idea why?" All Might asked.

"W-Well, yeah. We've been floating around ideas for the past few days, piecing together little things from throughout the first semester. Thing is, we don't know anything for sure." Izuku said.

"You sound nervous, kid. What have you pieced together?"

"I-It's just… it kinda has to do with a secret Blake was keeping coming out accidentally. It doesn't seem like it's a trivial secret either. I guess I just-"

"Don't want to reveal someone's secret without their permission?" All Might guessed.

"Yeah," Izuku said. "I-I mean, it's not like I don't trust you or anything! I just-"

"Don't worry Young Midoriya. I'm not gonna force you to tell me anything." All Might reassured. "I understand how important it can be to keep a secret."

"I-Isn't that a bit of an understatement?" Izuku asked.

"Ha! Yeah, probably." All Might laughed. "Anyways, I'm guessing you came here for help," Izuku responded with a nod. "Unfortunately, I won't be able to help directly. Ozpin's had me on clean-up duty for Grimm around the city for a while now, and that's only increasing as the Vytal Festival approaches."

"Won't that make you run through your time limit faster?" Izuku asked.

"Don't worry, Ozpin's had me go at it with backup since the BRTC incident. Plus, with Peach's help, my time limit isn't as bad as I feared. I can go for just over an hour and a half in my hero form. Still, I fear I won't be of much help. Glynda and Oz are still worried about the BRTC incident and all that. The other teachers have to prepare their lesson plans for the next semester, which is doubly important now that students from the other schools will be joining us. Plus, people dropping out of Hunter Academies isn't a rarity, so they may just assume she's dropping out before the next semester begins."

"So we're pretty much on our own, then?" Izuku asked.

"Pretty much. Sorry I can't be of more help to you, kid."

"That's alright. I understand that you have other priorities. Besides, we already have eleven people looking for her. I'm certain we'll be able to find her!" Izuku said with the determined look All Might knew all too well.

"Good luck to you then." All Might said as Izuku walked out the door. As the young successor turned down a hall to the right, he almost bumped into a speeding blur of rose petals.

"Oh, there you are, Izuku!" Ruby said. "Are you ready to go searching?"

"Yeah, I think I've got everything I'll need. Why did come here, I thought we were meeting by the docks for the airships?" Izuku asked.

"I kinda need you to do me a favor," Ruby said as he nervously scratched her cheek.

"Sure, what's up?"

"Do you think you could pair off with Weiss to search for the day?" Ruby asked.

"M-Me? Why?"

"Well, I mean, Weiss has been pretty distant from Yang and I ever since Blake ran, more than she usually is. I don't think she'll be of much help today if we split off by teams like we planned, and she seems to get along pretty well with you. She was worried about your injuries after the BRTC." Ruby said.

"She was?" Izuku asked as a slight blush worked its way onto her face.

"Yeah, at least I think so. Plus she yells at you less than everyone else," Ruby said.

"She doesn't really yell at Pyrrha or Tenya either, though," Izuku said.

"I already asked Pyrrha and she seemed kind of… I don't know, hesitant, I guess. I was gonna ask either you or Tenya next, but I ran into you first. I-If you don't want to, that's fine though."

Izuku thought for a moment before nodding.

"Ok, I can tag along with Weiss," Izuku said. "

"Thank you! I promise I'll let you have a cookie or two from the jar I keep in my room. Don't tell Yang though." Ruby said.

"That's… generous of you, but I'll be fine without a cookie. Now, let's go find our friend. " Izuku said.

* * *

 _12:00 A.M., Small Cafe, City of Vale_

 **(Cue- Misteriasu (Mystery)- MHA Soundtrack)**

"So you want to know more about me?" Blake asked her companion from across the table.

"She speaks! Guess I finally managed to chip away that cold exterior after a few days, huh?" The monkey Faunus asked only to be met with a stern glare. "Guess the weird looks are here to stay, though."

Blake rolled her eyes at his comment. The boy with her at the cafe, Sun Wukong, was the first person she'd run into after running out of her team's room. Apparently, he'd figured out after first running past her earlier that day that her black bow hid her cat ears. When she asked how he knew, he just joked it was a "trade secret".

He'd volunteered to keep her company that night, and hadn't left her side since. He was nice enough; if a little too chatty for Blake's tastes. Still, she was glad to have the company. It helped to have Sun's antics to distract her from her current predicament.

"How familiar are you with the White Fang?" Blake asked.

"The White Fang? Well, I'm at least as familiar as every other Faunus on Remnant is. An ex-Faunus Activists Group turned holier-than-thou terrorists who use force to get whatever they want. Can't say I've ever met a member, but they all seem like they have a few screws loose." Sun responded as be drank his cup of tea using his monkey tail.

"I used to be a member," Blake said. Sun almost choked on his tea.

"You're joking! _You_ were a member of-?!"

"Please keep it down." Blake interrupted. Sun, remembering they were in a public setting, quickly composed himself. "I was a member for most of my life. I was basically born into it. Even as a child, I was at the front of every rally and participating in every boycott. I thought we were making a difference back then, but as I got older, I realized our accomplishments were few and far between. When I was around ten or eleven, there was a whole year where our activism didn't get us any ground. That's when people started to turn to more violent tactics. It started out small, but it grew once Sienna Khan took over as its leader. At first, I was naive enough to stay with the group, even after my… even after people close to me left. I'd grown up with so many people in the Fang. They were my friends. Some… closer than that. But once I truly realized how far the White Fang had fallen, I left and chose to dedicate myself to being a Huntress. And now I'm a criminal hiding in plain sight. All thanks to this," Blake said as she wiggled her ears underneath her bow.

"So… do any of your friends know?" Sun asked. Blake stared down at her reflection in the tea.

 **(End Music)**

* * *

 _1:00 P.M., City of Vale_

"Blake! Blake! Ugh, this is useless!" Ruby said throwing her arms in the air. Currently, She, Tenya, Shoto, and Katsuki were walking through Vale trying their best to spot the newly revealed Faunus.

"I still can't believe Ms. Belladonna has been a Faunus this whole time. To think she had to keep that a secret for so long." Tenya said.

"Ya think she's part of the White Fang?" Katsuki asked.

"Well, based on what she said to Weiss… she was probably a part of it at some point." Ruby responded solemnly.

"Now that I think about it. She did seem pretty spooked when she and I ran into White Fang troops at the BRTC. Maybe she thought they were after her." Shoto said.

"You don't think they could've gotten to her somehow, do you?" Ruby said with worry.

"Relax, brat. I'm sure she's fine. She's probably just hiding somewhere." Katsuki responded.

"I checked last night and found a list of all the hotels in the area. There are a couple nearby if we want to check them out." Shoto said as he pulled out his Scroll.

"Sounds like as good a plan as any," Tenya said. With that, the four of them began to go around to several hotels, asking each desk worker if they'd seen someone matching Blake's appearance check-in.

She wasn't at the first hotel.

She wasn't at the second hotel.

Or the third.

Or the sixth.

Or the tenth.

Even after checking for almost two hours, they still found nothing. As they walked up to their last hotel, they were greeted by the sight of a well kept, expensive building.

"I saved this one for last since it's the most expensive in the area, figured it was the least likely," Shoto said.

"Maybe she stole the money."

"Katsuki!" Tenya hit Katsuki on the back of the head, earning a growl.

"I'm just saying it's a possibility," Katsuki said. As the four of them walked into the hotel, Tenya went up to the front desk to talk to the receptionist.

"Should we ask some of the people here if they've seen her?" Ruby asked.

"Like some rich elitist snobs are gonna be any help," Katsuki said.

"They don't look like rich elitist snobs to me," Shoto said as he pointed over his shoulder to a group of people eating lunch in the hotel cafe. There were four of them, all of them looking around the same age as them, all dressed pretty casually.

"Well it can't hurt either way," Ruby said as she marched over to the table, followed close behind by Shoto and Katsuki. As they approached the table, they got a better look at the four people.

The first one was a mature looking teenage girl. She was fairly tall with long black hair tied in a spiky ponytail with one strand on the right side of her face. Her eyes were onyx colored, and though it was hard to notice, she sported a pair of small, rounded panther ears atop her head. Of the four of them, she definitely appeared to be the most in her element here.

The second one was also a girl, and also definitely a Faunus. The three of them weren't quite sure what animal she was exactly, but her light pink skin, pale yellow horns, and the black sclera contrasting with her yellow eyes left no doubt of her race. Her hair was fluffy and was a slightly darker shade of pink than her skin. She was by far the most laid-back looking of their group.

The third one a muscular teen, about average height. He had short, spiky red hair and red eyes. Right above his right eye was a small scar. He was being very talkative and looked to be having a good time.

The last one was a fair-skinned short girl with shoulder-length, bobbed brown hair with two larger strands framing her face. Her brown eyes were large and round, and a perpetual blush was present on her face. While she too looked to be having a good time, she seemed to use her silverware and eat her food with care, almost like she was afraid to use it at all.

"Ochaco, I told you there's no need to be so nervous while we stay here. It won't break because you're using it the same way you'd use a regular knife and fork." The Faunus girl with the ponytail said with a slight laugh as she drank from a cup of tea.

"Yeah, but if I do break it, your parents will have to pay for the expenses and I do want to have to make them do that, Momo." The brown-haired girl, now identified as Ochaco, said.

"Relax, this hotel wasn't _that_ expensive," Momo responded. Ochaco paled in response, muttering something about thousands of Lien a night.

"Rich girl." The pink-haired Faunus jokingly coughed under her breath.

"Excuse us," All four teens turned as Ruby addressed them, standing a couple of feet away with Shoto and Katsuki on either side of her.

"Hello," Momo said as she set down a cup of tea. "Can we help you somehow?"

"Yeah, we were wondering if you guys have seen a girl walking around town recently. She looks like this." Ruby responded as she held up a photo of Blake on her Scroll.

"I don't believe I have no," Momo responded. The other three shook their heads

"Why do you ask?" The pink-haired girl questioned.

"She's a friend whose been missing for the past few days," Shoto responded. All four of the teens instantly lost any happy demeanors.

"That's terrible," Momo responded.

"You don't think she's been kidnapped or something, do you?" Ochaco asked.

"It's probably not that bad, she just ran off a few days ago and we've been getting worried," Ruby responded.

"Don't worry," the red-haired teen said as he stood up. "We'll help you find you're friend in no time!"

"U-Uh, y-you don't really have to do that. We were just asking around not trying to recruit people." Ruby said.

"Of course we have to! For us to just hang out all day and ignore helping you guys is the least manly thing I could think of!" The boy replied.

"Don't worry," The pink Faunus continued. "Like he said, we were just gonna do some sightseeing today. Helping you guys takes priority."

"Indeed, it's our job as future Hunters to aid however we can!" Momo said.

"Wait, you guys are students too?" Ruby asked.

"Did you miss their bags, brat?" Katsuki asked as he pointed towards the floor. Ruby's gaze followed where the grenadier was pointing until she saw several bags underneath the table, each one with Mistral's Crest on it.

"We're Team MAKO of Haven Academy. You're students too, then?" Momo asked.

"We're from Beacon. I'm Shoto of Team MSKI, same as Katsuki and our friend Tenya." Shoto said as he gestured towards the front desk.

"And I'm Ruby Rose of Team RWBY."

"It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Momo Yaoyoruzu. This is Mina Ashido, Eijiro Kirishima, and Ochaco Uraraka." Momo responded.

"I didn't think Haven Academy students were supposed to arrive until three days from now," Shoto said.

"The rest of the students will be. There was a rather large break between the end of our semester and our school coming here. We decided to come here early so we could enjoy more of our time in Vale and get to know the Kingdom." Momo said.

"Momo's the only one who'd ever left Mistral until now, so she volunteered and paid for the trip here," Eijiro said.

"Guess we know who the rich one is," Katsuki said under his breath, earning a slap upside the head from Shoto.

"Well if you guys are really willing to help, then we'll gladly accept it," Ruby said.

"Like we would've let you turn us down in the first place," Eijiro said with a smirk which revealed his abnormally sharp teeth.

"We'll go grab some stuff we'll need and go meet you back in the lobby," Momo said. She and her team quickly departed up a set of nearby stairs.

"I can tell I'm gonna hate all of them," Katsuki said.

"Don't you already hate everyone?" Ruby asked in a semi-serious tone.

"Shut up, brat," Katsuki said.

"Unfortunately, the clerk at the desk said no one matching Blake's description has been at this hotel in the past few days," Tenya said as he walked over to the three of them. "Did those four happen to see her?"

"No, but they did say they'd help us," Ruby said. "Apparently they're students from Haven Academy."

"Really? Well, then I guess this stop hasn't been a total loss." Tenya said.

"Still, I'm more concerned now than before," Shoto said. "If she hasn't been staying at any hotels in the area, where has seen been?"

* * *

 _6:30, City of Vale, Commercial District_

Yang removed her yellow helmet and goggles and placed them into Bumblebee's storage compartment. She'd spent the past hour riding through town, hoping to run into Blake. She'd stopped by a restaurant she and her sister had taken Weiss and Blake to a couple of weeks after Beacon started. She'd stopped by a movie theatre Jaune had invited RWBY, MSKI, and his team to two weeks before the BRTC incident. After all that, she still couldn't find any sign of her partner. However, after thinking about everywhere they'd gone with Blake, she remembered a place Blake had mentioned offhand.

It was a couple of days after initiation when Blake came to the dorm with a bunch of new books. Ruby had asked where she'd gotten them from and Blake responded with the same of a small shop in Vale, one which she apparently had visited before. One quick search on her Scroll gave her the address.

282, 27th Street.

Tukson's Book Trade.

 _Please be here…_

Yang opened the door to shop, a bell above the door jingling. The shop had bookshelves lining the walls to her left and right, with smaller shelves throughout the room, creating a fairly open design throughout the shop.

Yang walked up the desk towards the back of the room. She reached for the bell on the desk but stopped after hearing several voices talking behind a door on the other side of the desk. She tried to make out what they were saying but failed to pick up anything distinct. Keeping her lilac eyes focused on the door, she rang the bell.

The talking immediately stopped. After a moment, much longer than what it should have taken given the proximity of the voices, a burly looking man with black hair, sideburns, and quarter-zip burgundy and black shirt opened up the door and stepped out. Yang craned her neck to try and see deeper into the shop through the door, only to see even more bookshelves. The man, upon seeing Yang's action, paused before stepping up closer to the desk, an uneasy look in his eyes.

"Welcome to Tukson's Book Trade: Home to every book under the Sun. Can I help you with something?" The man asked.

"Are you Tukson?" Yang asked. Tukson's gaze hardened.

"I am. Why?"

"Then you know Blake Belladonna, right?" Yang asked. Tukson seemed surprised by the question, his unease growing by the second.

"Why do you ask?" Tukson responded.

"I'm Yang Xiao Long, her partner at Beacon. She's been missing for the past five days. Have you seen her?" Yang asked.

"You're her partner?" Yang and Tukson both looked towards the door behind the desk to see a blonde monkey Faunus poking his head around the door. "I'm Sun, nice to meet you." He said. Yang gave him a quizzical look while Tukson facepalmed.

"Sun!" Yang heard a familiar voice yell from the other side of the door.

"Blake?" Yang called out. Sun looked to his left behind the door before stepping out himself, holding the door open. After a few seconds, which felt like hours, Blake Belladonna stepped into view. She stood within the door frame, right arm hugging the left as she avoided eye contact with her partner.

"Hi…" Blake said.

"You gave us all quite a scare, Blake. We were all _purr_ ty worried about you." Yang said jokingly. Tukson glared at Yang for her pun only to stop when a small chuckle escaped Blake's lips. Blake looked up at her partner who gave her one of the brightest smiles she'd ever seen.

"I'm glad you're ok," Yang said.

"Thanks," Blake responded.

"See, I told ya your friends wouldn't think any less of you! You worry too much, Blake." Sun said.

"So how do you guys know Blake?" Yang asked.

"I ran into her and a couple of your friends when I first showed up at Vale. I found her after she ran from Beacon and I've been keeping an eye on her since then." Sun said.

"I've known Blake since she was about this tall," Tukson said as he put his hand just below waist level.

"Really? Sounds like you have quite a few stories to tell about her then?" Yang said.

"You have no idea," Tukson said with a laugh. "Sorry about the whole tough guy act there, I just wasn't sure if you were who you said you were."

"Don't worry about it," Yang said. "I should probably message everyone else. They've been searching since this morning."

"Thay have? Who?" Blake asked in surprise.

"Our team, MSKI, and JNPR," Yang said as she pulled out her Scroll.

"Even Weiss?" Blake asked.

"Yeah, she's with Izuku right now, I think," Yang said. Blake's mouth hung open slightly.

"Looks like I was doubly right." Sun joked, earning a sight from the cat Faunus.

"Alright I messaged them that I found you. I didn't tell them were though. Figured you'd want the privacy." Yang said, earning an appreciative nod from Blake. "So what now?" All eyes turned to Blake as the teen took a deep breath.

"I guess I can start by telling you the truth," Blake said. And so, Blake recounted for Yang the same story she'd told Sun earlier that day. She added that Tukson had given her and by proxy Sun a place to sleep over the past few days. Tukson too was a former member of the White Fang who had left two years before Blake did.

"Before you came in, we were discussing whether or not the White Fang was behind the Dust Shop robberies that've occurred over the past few months," Blake said.

"It's not entirely out of the possibility. I'd heard that members of the Fang were moving into Vale, and their appearance at the BRTC pretty much confirms it." Tukson added.

"Thing is, the White Fang has never needed that much Dust. Some of the bolder factions have tried to kill All Might before, but even they never used that much Dust." Blake said.

"You think they were just learning from their mistakes?" Yang asked.

"I doubt it," Blake said.

"But what if they did do it?" Sun asked. "If we want to prove whether or not they are behind it, we should go to the place they would be if they were doing it and see if they're there," Sun said.

"Nice plan. You got any idea where that'd be?" Yang asked.

"When I came over on the ship, they mentioned a huge Schnee Company freighter would be dropping supplies today," Sun said.

"A Schnee Company asset would be exactly the kind of target the Fang would go after," Tukson said.

"Great, let's go wait and see if they show up then!" Yang said. "Hope you guys have a car or something, cause Bumblebee can't fit three people."

"Bumblebee?" Sun asked.

"My motorcycle," Yang answered.

"Your _motorcycle_?! I have _got_ to see this!" Sun said.

"Come on, I'll give you the grand tour," Yang said as she motioned towards the exit of the store. Yang and Sun walked out, the latter overflowing with excitement. Blake was about to join them before Tukson motioned here to stay for a moment.

"Looks like your friends aren't as angry as you feared. This one, anyway." Tukson said.

"Yeah… I'm glad." Blake said.

"You know, she's only known you what, one semester at Beacon, and she's already willing to look past your past mistakes. Hell, that boy's known you less than a week and he's just as kind to you as she is." Tukson said.

"What are you getting at?" Blake said as she tilted her head slightly.

"If they're willing to accept you after knowing you this long, I imagine someone who's known you since the day you were born would be willing to accept you too," Tukson said. Blake's eyes widened as she realized his implication.

"No! I don't… please, just one step at a time, Tukson." Blake said as she tried to compose yourself.

Tukson sighed. "Alright, I understand. But please, think about it. I know it's been a while but I'm sure if send a message to-"

"If it's gonna happen I want to be the one to send the message, not you. Besides, it's different with Sun and Yang. I haven't hurt them." Blake said. Tukson had a pained look in his eyes. He knew the girl's fears were unfounded but at the same time, a reunion too soon may cause Blake even more stress. With all that Blake'd been through, seeing her stressed never failed to crush his heart.

"I'm afraid I won't be able to help you guys. I still have to run this shop, plus I'm out of shape if things end up getting into a fight." Tukson said.

"That's ok, I wasn't even going to ask you, considering how much of a help you've already been. I'll be sure to message you after this whole thing's over with." Blake said as she walked out of the store, waving one last goodbye to Tukson.

As she stepped out into the sunlight, one thought crept back into her mind.

 _Weiss was searching for me?_

* * *

 _~20 Minutes Earlier, City of Vale_

"Oh hey, good news! Yang found Blake." Izuku said as he and the Schnee Heiress walked through Vale.

"Where are they?" Weiss asked.

"She didn't specify. Says she doesn't want to overwhelm Blake with everyone at once. Guess that makes sense." Izuku said. "At least now we won't have to keep worrying anymore. Should we go back up to Beacon and wait for them?"

Weiss simply kept on walking, gaze focused straight ahead.

"Do you… want to see her?" Izuku asked.

"I don't even know," Weiss responded. Izuku was surprised, to say the least. Weiss always seemed to be confident in everything she did. Her current disposition was anything but.

"Is there something you need to talk about? I know we're not particularly close or anything, so I won'tbeupsetifyou'drathertalkaboutitwithsomeoneelsebut-"

"You're muttering again," Weiss said with a slight chuckle. Izuku grew slightly red in embarrassment but was nonetheless glad to get a laugh out of Weiss. "And that's alright, I'm comfortable talking about this with you, just so long as you don't go repeating anything with anyone else."

"Of course," Izuku responded with a nodded.

"It just… every time I'm around my team, I always feel this tension. I don't know if the others hate me or if I'm just imagining things, but I still feel it. Ruby and I may not argue as much as we did when the year first started, but we're not exactly on good terms. If we ever get assigned a partner project in class, I never talk and just try to get it done as fast as possible. I imagine Yang isn't fond of that either. I thought I was on ok terms with Blake but after all of this… I don't know if any of them will even want to talk to me." Weiss was staring at the sidewalk as they continued their walk, her eyes covered from view by her hair. Izuku wracked his brain for some kind of answer but was still drawing blanks.

"Why did you and Ruby not get along in the first place?" Izuku asked, stalling for time until he found something to say.

"It was because she's the team leader. She always acts like a child and rarely takes her studying seriously. She barely passed all of her written finals last semester. I don't think she's ever tried to call for a team meeting or anything like that except for after the BRTC Incident. I just can't understand how a child is supposed to be my superior." Weiss responded.

"Well, I mean, did you really give her a chance?" Izuku asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I know Ruby can be a bit… 'childish', but I've never gotten the impression that she's weak or anything. Heck, the first time I met her was when she fought off a bunch of criminals robbing a Dust shop. She may not be perfect, but nobody is. There's always a chance for improvement." Izuku said.

"You really think she can do that much of a turnaround?" Weiss said with a slight scoff.

"I did," Izuku said without thinking.

"What do you mean?" Weiss asked. The young successor almost tripped after realizing he'd just implied something about being a Severed. He quickly tried to recompose himself and figure out how to answer her question without giving away too much.

"Well… I've never really considered myself a prodigy or anything, I mean I hardly did any training until about a year before Beacon but I'm still a team leader."

"You did what?!" Weiss asked in shock. Izuku again thought about the phrasing of his words before continuing.

"Back before Beacon, I was basically useless when it came to most things Hunter-related. I'd always wanted to be one since I first saw All Might, but I… do you know what it means to be Severed?"

"It means you can't manifest Aura at all, right? I remember hearing about it, but I've never met anyone who was." Weiss responded.

"Well, for the longest time, I thought I was one," Izuku said, causing Weiss to be the one to almost trip. "Yeah, that's kind of what I expected your reaction to be," Izuku joked. "I still kept trying though, learning everything I possibly could about being a Hunter. I refused to let go of my dream. For years, people called me crazy and delusional for not giving up on trying to become a Hunter. I almost gave up myself at one point. However, through what was basically a miracle, I managed to unlock my Aura. If I had given up, I never would've gotten to where I am. So yeah, I kinda did do a 'turnaround' as you put it."

"That's amazing," Weiss said, causing Izuku to turn a deep shade of crimson.

"Y-Yeah, I-I guess so. But I don't think I would've gotten to where I am today if it weren't for help from the people around me. I didn't train alone and I still don't today. The only reason I have any success is that my teammates are willing to listen to me and ask my opinion. Heck, even though he may not like me Kacchan will at least hear me out most of the time. It's not like you wouldn't be a good team leader, but Ruby got chosen and what's done is done. I know you don't exactly like her right now, heck you don't even have to like her at all, but the only way you're ever going to have success as a team is if you give her a chance. Same goes for Blake too."

Weiss started at Izuku for a moment, contemplating his words. After several seconds, she nodded before sighing. "I guess I'm not really used to being told no," Weiss said deprecatingly.

"Have you ever been told no before?" Izuku asked.

"Of course I have you dolt. Just not by anyone other than my family."

"I guess that makes sense. Your family really doesn't like the Faunus, huh?" Izuku asks.

"I understand not all Faunus are bad, I just… I guess it was probably something I picked up from my father. I get that it is a problem. My sister told me she had a similar experience when she first went to Atlas as two of her teammates were Faunus." Weiss said.

"Well, I guess they do say the first step in solving a problem is acknowledging it. So, what now?" Izuku asked.

"It's almost seven and I haven't had any food since lunch. Want to grab something to eat before we head back?" Weiss asked.

"Oh, yeah, good idea," Izuku said.

As the two began to walk to a small restaurant of Weiss' recommendation, both teens asked themselves similar questions.

 _I didn't just invite Izuku on a date, did I?_

 _Did Weiss just ask me out on a date?_

* * *

 _9:00 P.M., Docks, City of Vale_

Blake clenched her fists as she saw the White Fang troops exit the Bullhead onto the dockyards. Several Faunus made their way to secure several crates of Dust to the Bullheads' tow cables, all without seeing the three Hunters-in-training on the rooftops.

"Is that them?" Yang asked.

"Think so," Sun responded as he turned to Blake "You really didn't think they were behind it, did you?"

"I think I knew deep down. I just didn't want to be right."

"So what do we do no-"

"Hey! What's the holdup!?" Yang was interrupted by a new voice from a Bullhead as a well-dressed criminal walked down the ship's ramp. "We're not exactly the most inconspicuous bunch of thieves at the moment, so let's pick up the pace, shall we?"

"That's Roman Torchwick!" Yang said in surprise as said thief was eventually joined by a short woman with a parasol.

"This isn't right. The Fang would work with Humans to kill All Might, but not for something as small as a Dust Robbery." Blake stood up and pulled Gambol Shroud off her back.

"Hey, what are doing?" Sun asked in alarm as Blake silently dropped from the rooftop onto the ground. She rolled as she impacted the concrete before hiding behind one of the shipping containers. She peeked around the corner to see Roman talking to one of the White Fang grunts.

"I get that it might _look_ like one but it's not a leash!" Roman said. The grunt nodded as he turned and brought the cable to a nearby container. As Roman turned around, he felt the cold blade of Gambol Shroud press against his throat. "What the- oh for fuck's sake…" Roman said to himself.

"Nobody move!" Blake yelled out to the criminals. The short woman seemed worried at Roman's predicament, adjusting the grip on her parasol. Roman gave her a quick glance, causing her to nod and hold her position. Blake used her free hand to remove the bow from her head, revealing her Faunus ears.

"Brothers of the White Fang, why are you aiding this scum?" Blake asked. The White Fang troops hesitated at the sight, sharing several glances with one another. Roman simply laughed at the teen's question.

"Looks like someone didn't get the memo," Roman said.

"What are you talking about?" Blake asked.

"The White Fang and I are going in on a joint business venture together! A very lucrative one, I might add."

"Tell me what it is or I'll put an end to your little operation." Before she could get an answer, the sound of turbines filled all four of Blake's ears as the wind picked up.

"Little operation might be putting it a little lightly..." Roman said as two more Bullheads hovered overhead, much to Blake's horror. Roman smirked as he moved Melodic Cudgel so it was directly below Blake's feet before firing a shot of Fire Dust, creating a large explosion that launched Blake away.

Blake was left dazed by the explosion as she got back up to her feet. As Torchwick lined up another shot with Melodic Cudgel, Yang launched herself at the criminal from above with two rounds from Ember Celica. Before she could make contact, the blonde felt a heel dig into her back as Roman's short sidekick drove her foot into Yang midair, launching the teen back towards Blake.

"Thanks for the assist, Neo," Roman said as he lined up another round of Fire Dust towards the two teens. He shot the round but it exploded just a few meters short of his targets. As the smoke from the shot cleared, Sun stood with a red bō staff spinning in front of him. He planted one end of the staff into the ground.

"Are two always this impulsive?" Sun jokingly asked.

"Sorry," Blake said as she helped Yang return to her feet.

"Alrighty. I'll take on 'Neo'." Yang said as she raised her fists.

"I'll go for Torchwick," Blake said.

"Leaving the Fang troops to me then? Four of them should be no problem." Just then, more White Fang troops dropped down from the newly arrived Bullheads, tripling the White Fang's numbers. "Me and my mouth," Sun said as he charged towards the mob of Fang grunts.

 **(Cue- The Emperor's Time - Hunter x Hunter OST)**

At the same time, Blake and Yang stared down the two head criminals. While the two partners appeared laser-focused, neither of the criminals appeared worried at all, especially Neo. "Guess the Kitty-Cat wants to play with me. I'm sure you'll find a way to have fun with the blondie." Roman said.

Yang and Blake both fired off rounds towards the pair of thieves, only for the two of them to shatter to the ground like a plane of glass. Both students were shocked but neither had time to react as Neo jumped from behind them, once again hitting Yang in the back and knocking her away. Before Blake could take a swing with Gambol Shroud, however, the handle of Melodic Cudgel launched itself like a grappling hook from behind her and pulled Blake by the foot backward towards Roman.

As Blake was pulled back towards him Roman prepared to punch the teen in the back. However, once she was within range, Blake used her Semblance letting the clone take the hit for her as she rolled away from Torchwick. Roman, though fazed, quickly recovered and fired off a shot at Blake which she barely managed to block with her sword. The career criminal took the initiative and charged at Blake, a move she was unprepared for. Roman's first swing with Melodic Cudgel landed true, hitting Blake on the side of her head before she again used her Semblance to create a clone and make distance between the two of them.

"Didn't anyone ever tell you that you shouldn't use your Semblance so recklessly?" Roman taunted. Blake once again sent a death glare at Torchwick before switching Gambol Shroud to its dual-wield mode. She fired off two shots with her weapon's gun mode before this time being the one to close the distance. Roman easily dodged one shot before using his cane to block the other. Blake took a vertical swing with Gambol Shroud's blade with Roman intercepted with Medoldic Cudgel. Blake then took a horizontal swing with her weapon's sheath aimed for the thief's stomach, only for Roman to quickly jump back from. However, Blake once again used her Semblance, only this time to close the distance between Roman in the split second before he could establish a good footing.

Blake took a swing towards Roman's head with Gambol Shroud's sheath, striking him in the temple. She then went for a swing with her sword's blade, only for it to barely miss Roman's side. Before she could take another swing, she felt a cold, circular piece of metal press against her stomach before Roman fired off a blast of Fire Dust point-blank. The shot ended up knocking both fighters away from each other. While Roman managed to quickly get to his feet, Blake was still on the ground, holding onto her stomach. The front of Blake's clothes were now covered in soot, and the blade of Gambol Shroud was now several feet in front of her, placing it closer to Roman than to herself. Her Aura was shimmering at an alarming rate.

"Guess I had nothing to worry about, huh, Kitty-Cat?" Roman taunted.

Unfortunately, Yang was having even less success when it came to dealing with Roman's partner in crime. Yang took a series of swings at Neo; left jab, right jab, right uppercut, left cross, a feint to the left. But no matter how many punches she threw or how fast she threw them, Neo easily managed to duck out of the way or throw off Yang's punch with her parasol. Yang tried to fire off a Fire Dust round from Ember Celica, but Neo simply popped open her parasol and nullified the attack. Before Yang could attack again, Neo used the handle of Hush and wrapped it around Yang's ankle before using it to swing and launch the blonde into a nearby shipping container, her Aura shimmering from the impact against her spine.

Yang, though rattled by being thrown, fired off another shot from Ember Celica at Neo, only for the small criminal to crack away and collapse like a plain of glass yet again. Before Yang could move, Neo once again appeared from the side and kicked Yang directly across the head, knocking lose several strands of hair. Yang used the knockback from Ember Celica to launch herself a few feet away from Neo. The blonde, now truly furious, banged ger gauntlets together and activated her Semblance, her eyes blood red and her hair aflame. Neo retained her smug demeanor. Yang launched herself at Neo before delivering a flurry of blows that was almost too fast for Neo to see.

Almost.

Neo quickly went to work blocking and redirecting Yang's punches. While the occasional stray pellet from her shotgun blasts occasionally managed to slip through Neo's defenses, it was still not enough, after about fifteen seconds, the pace of Yang's punches began to slow down. The blonde was approaching her limit.

Sun was also having difficulties on his end. Though none of the Fang Troops could truly hold a candle to the monkey Faunus in a one on one, twelve on one was a different story. Before Sun could manage to land a knock-out blow on once of them, two more would come in and stop his attack. After about five minutes of fighting, he'd only managed to incapacitate three of them and was almost out of ammo. As a sword-wielding Fang member charged at him, Sun quickly deflected the strike with his staff before spinning it and knocking his opponent off their feet, and striking them in the back of the head, knocking them away.

 _Four down, eight to go…_ Sun thought to himself. The young Hunter-in-training felt a sharp pain in her back as one of the Fang Members with a pistol hit him with a shot. Though his Aura stopped there from being any major damage, he was almost now out of it.

"We don't want to kill one of our own kind, kid." One of the other Fang troops said. "Leave now before we have to hurt you any more."

"I appreciate the offer, but my friends over there are trusting me to help them, so I'll have to decline," Sun said as he shifted Ruyi Gand and Jingu Bang into its gunchucks form.

"Then I'm sorry for what's to come." The Fang troop responded as the White Fang members slowly surrounded Sun on all sides.

"Me too!" A vice shouted out as the troop Sun had been talking to was suddenly shot with a bolt of electricity, causing him to spasm from the electric currents before falling to a knee. Before the other troop members could process what's happened, two more soldiers were hit with shots of electricity, with one falling to his knee as well, while to other one collapsed entirely.

"What the?" Sun asked as he turned towards where the shots had come from, only to see Izuku standing on top of one of the shipping crates. Peacekeepers glowed like a star from the Lightning Dust Scales loaded into them.

"You're not hurting anyone else!" Izuku said as he jumped down from the crate towards them. He charged at anther White Fang troop who, having already taken several strong hits from Sun, quickly went down to Izuku's electric punches.

"Don't worry about me I can handle these guys, you need to go help them!" Sun yelled as he pointed in the direction of Blake and Yang.

"Once we deal with these guys we'll help them. Besides, I didn't come alone." Izuku responded.

Not too far away, Roman delivered a series of strong hits with Melodic Cudgel on Blake, knocking the nearly exhausted teen several feet away from him. Roman lined up a final shot with his cane which, with Blake dangerously low Aura, would no doubt severely damage her. However, the shot was intercepted by a wall of ice, saving Blake from the danger. As the heat of Roman's Fire Dust shot melted away the rest of the ice, Weiss appeared in front of Blake, Myrtenaster extended out in front of her.

"Weiss?" Blake called out in confusion.

"Get up. We can talk after we deal with him." Weiss responded.

"The Schnee Heiress showing up to stop a common crook from stealing her Dust? I must say I'm quite honored. But even so, I doubt your little Faunus friend will be much use right now." Roman stated.

"You've got a bigger problem on your hands, eyeliner!" A feral voice called out as a black and red blur shot from above towards Roman, a series of explosions lining its trail. Katsuki produced an explosion which knocked Roman back several yards. "You better be able to keep up, Ice Queen!" Katsuki called out.

"Don't think so high and mighty of yourself, brute." Weiss retorted with a slight grin on her face.

Roman got up and dusted himself off before eyeing down his two new opponents. Before he could make a move, Neo jumped over towards him, clutching he side as a faint trail of blood appeared through her fingers. Roman turned to see that standing in front of Yang, who'd entirely depleted her Aura, was Ruby and Tenya, the former's scythe sporting a faint splotch of blood.

 _She was fast enough to land a solid hit on Neo? This is bad._ Torchwick thought. "Guess you've gotten faster, huh, Little Red." Roman casually taunted, despite his inner fears.

 **(End Music)**

"I advise you to surrender, Mr. Torchwick. We have more allies on the way, and the police will be here shortly." Tenya spoke.

"Just give up," Ruby said.

"But if ya don't I'll gladly kick both of your asses!" Katsuki yelled.

Roman looked over his shoulder towards where the White Fang troops were, only to find them all unconscious, knocked out by Sun and Izuku, who were now on their way towards the two head criminals.

"The Greenie's here too," Roman muttered under his breath. Even without Blake and Yang, a six on two was bad news, and if Tenya wasn't bluffing, their odds were about to get even worse. Neo looked up at Torchwick, waiting for an answer from him. The grip around his cane tightened.

 _Like hell I'm just gonna let the two of us go down without a fight!_ Before Roman could speak, however, a purple glow appeared behind him.

"It appears you could use some assistance, Mr. Torchwick," Kurogiri said as he stood behind the two criminals.

"The hell are you doing here?!" Roman asked in surprise.

"Protecting a valuable asset," Kurogiri said as his smoke enveloped Roman and Neo.

"Stop them!" Izuku called out as he, Ruby, and Katsuki all charged towards the trio, only for the smoke to dissipate before they could reach them, revealing all three criminals to be gone.

"Guess you Grim Legion bastards like running away, huh?!" Katsuki yelled out rhetorically.

"Oh, this was not _our_ plan at all," Kurogiri called out to the surprise of the Hunters-in-Training from over by the White Fang troops. "We simply felt it would be in our best interest to intervene here." The criminal said as he opened up smaller portals below all twelve of the White Fang troops, teleporting them away as well. "Farewell, young Hunters," Kurogiri said as he himself vanished.

After a brief pause, all nine teens felt an overwhelming sense of relief, save for Katsuki, who was still itching for a fight. Sun fell flat on his but before taking several heavy breaths.

"Thanks for saving my ass back there bro. Name's Sun Wukong." The monkey Faunus spoke as he extended a hand up towards Izuku to shake.

"Izuku Midoriya. Hey, wait a minute… aren't you the guy that stowed away on that ship a few days ago?" Izuku asked as Sun simply laughed and scratched at the back of his head.

"Are you guys alright?" The teens turned to see Shoto running towards the nine of them with team MAKO in tow.

"For the most part, though Blake and Yang look like they're exhausted," Tenya responded.

"I can help with any of their injuries," Momo said as Tenya quickly directed her over to Blake and Yang.

"What took you five so long?!" Katsuki called out.

"None of us have Semblances like Ruby and Tenya that boost our speed," Shoto said.

"And we also weren't stupid enough to propel ourselves with explosions in the middle of downtown Vale." Mina retorted.

"Hey, it's not like he actually hurt anyone or damaged any property. Going all out to help your friends is one of the manliest things you can do. Nice going, Bakubro!" Eijiro said with a thumbs up.

"They're not my friends, I just wanted to kick some ass! And I told you to stop calling me that!" Katsuki yelled back, eliciting a laugh from both Eijiro and Ochaco.

"Wait, Sun?! What are you doing here?" Ochaco asked.

"Oh hey guys!" Sun responded.

"You guys know him?" Shoto asked.

"He's a student at Haven too," Mina responded.

"How'd you get here, bro?" Eijiro asked.

"After I got done visiting Vacuo over break, I figured I'd come to Vale early. Looks like you guys had the same idea." Sun said.

"Well we can all talk about it after we talk to the police," Katsuki said as he looked at the flashing red and blue light in the distance.

* * *

 _~45 Minutes Later_

As the police finally finished questioning her, Weiss turned away from them and began to walk over to the rest of the Hunters-in-Training. She was relieved everything had turned out ok. If Yang hadn't sent out a distress signal on her Scroll before joining in the fight, they probably would've… _No. That's not important right now_. The Heiress thought to herself. Right now, she had other things to worry about.

Blake.

She'd seen her ears when she'd dropped in to save her. She was a Faunus. And probably a former member of the White Fang. She'd probably hurt a lot of people. Probably done a lot of bad things to her family's company. But she had fought against the White Fang today. Fought like a true Huntress.

And besides, it's not like she'd done anywhere near the damage to her grandfather's company than her own father had.

Weiss silently walked over towards her three teammates, earning a worried look from Blake, who'd since put her bow back on. As Weiss squared off in front of the cat Faunus, both Yang and Ruby stood silent with anxiety.

Blake took a deep breath. "Weiss, I want you to know that I'm no longer associated with the White Fang. Back when I was I was only a-"

"Stop! Do you know how long you've been gone? Five _days_. I've had five days and an… insightful conversation to think about how I feel and I've decided…

"I don't care." All three of the girls looked on in surprise.

"You… you _don't_ care?" Blake asked.

"You're not with them anymore, are you?"

"No! I-I haven't since I was a little-"

"Good! Then if that's the case, your history with them can gladly stay in the past. You just promise that next time something like this happens you'll come to us and not… someone else." Weiss said as she looked over to Sun who was with Izuku and Shoto and had been watching the conversation unfold. Sun laughed nervously, though he didn't appear to be too bothered. Blake looked over to Ruby and Yang who were both grinning before wiping a tear from her eye.

"I promise," Blake said. Weiss nodded before turning towards Ruby.

"And you," Weiss said causing Ruby to jump in surprise. "I promise I'll try to be a better partner. And a better teammate." Weiss turned towards Yang for the last part. Ruby, though shocked, was quickly overcome with joy.

"Yeah! Team RWBY is back together!" Ruby cheered. Weiss looked back over towards Izuku to see the young successor give her a thumbs up and a bright smile. Weiss blushed slightly before nodding.

Today had been a pretty good day.

* * *

 _Same Time, Unknown Bar in Vale_

"Bad day, Torchwick?" Tomura taunted from the barstool as Roman gave Neo's cut one last look over.

"As much as I appreciate a good sense of humor, I'd rather you not right now. Where'd you send the White Fang Troops." Roman asked.

"We sent them back to the White Fang Encampment to the east of Mountain Glenn. I told the Lieutenant that several Beacon Students thwarted your robbery and that we came in and ensured no one was captured." Kurogiri responded.

"And what made you decide to do that?" Torchwick asked.

"Call it an exchange of services. Since we made sure you two didn't get captured, you work extra hard to get us a meeting with this Stain guy you mentioned." Tomura said. "And in addition…"

"You're gonna set up a meeting with Cinder."

* * *

 **A/N**

 **And now we're finished with Volume 1!**

 **Chapter Commentary**

 **\- Right off the bat, I need to give credit to Celtic Pheonix Productions and his Fixing RWBY Series. I took several ideas for this chapter from his Volume 1 Fixing, namely Yang finding Blake at Tucson's and Neo being present at the Docks Fight. It wasn't a 1 to 1 of what he did, as I added in Sun as well, but I was inspired by his work. Go check out his Fixing RWBY Series and the other content on his channel, I highly recommend it.**

 **\- We got to see more MHA characters with Team MAKO (which is a shade of gray). It took me a while to figure out exactly who I wanted on this team, but in the end, I'm happy with how it turned out. I also decided to make Momo a Faunus as I have some cool ideas for the future with that. I'm also excited to show you guys Ochaco's weapon. It's not super special, I just find it funny.**

 **\- While it's never established that Blake and Tucson actually knew each other in canon, there have been a bunch of fanfics with them knowing each other, as well as in Celtic Pheonix's Fixing RWBY, so I figured I might as well add it in. I also hinted at Blake's past with her family which, depending on what I end up doing, could see some pretty major changes. No guarantees for anything, though.**

 **\- Izuku helping Weiss out with their talk is one of my favorite interactions I've had them do so far. I'm glad I ended up pairing them together. Also, I dropped a hint as to who the other members of Winter and Tensei's team are. They're both very fun characters who haven't shown up in the Anime yet, but that's all I'll say.**

 **\- Didn't add Penny into this chapter as I already had Ruby's group meeting MAKO for the first time, and didn't want things to become more crowded with characters than it already was. She'll be in the story in the future, so don't you worry!**

 **These Reviews are for both chapters 9 and 10 since I forgot to put them in last time.**

 **1jesus (Chapter 9)- Glad you enjoyed the fight. And it was just AfO**

 **Trey Alexander (Chapter 9)- The JNPR part was definitely was I was most proud of from that chapter for all the reasons you stated, so I'm glad you liked it too.**

 **1jesus (Chapter 10)- I can't wait either!**

 **RHatch89 (Chapter 10)- Glad you enjoyed it.**

 **Apv2wolf (Chapter10)- Bakugo and Ruby is what I'm leaning towards right now, but now promises.**

 **Boloipi (Chapter 10)- Glad you got to see your favorite character, and I'm also sorry she wasn't in this chapter.**

 **MaleficKing (Chapter 10)- I'm glad you're enjoying it so far. You make good points about BakugoxRuby, most of which I'm inclined to agree with. It'll probably be what I go with, but nothing's set in stone yet.**

 **Guest (Chapter 10)- I'll agree that Arkos is overrated, but I wouldn't call it shitty. I'd say it was a good concept that needed a little bit more work, which is how you could describe most things in RWBY.**

 **CommanderNova702 (Chapter 10)- I'm hyped for the Hero Killer Arc as well!**

 **Both Season 4 of MHA and Volume 7 of RWBY have had their ups and downs, but I've been enjoying things thus far. We'll have to see how well they do with the Cultural Festival Arc and how Volume 7 finishes out before I give an overall rating to them.**

 **Next time we'll be focusing on Volume 2, the villains, and the beginning of the VS Hero Killer Arc.**

 **See ya next time!**


	12. New Arrivals

**I do not own RWBY nor My Hero Academia all rights belong to Monty Oum and Kohei Horikoshi and their respective publishing companies.**

 **I do not own the cover image.**

 **Chapter 12: New Arrivals**

* * *

 _8:00 P.M., Ozpin's Office_

Toshinori wasn't a fan of war. Obviously, this opinion is anything but controversial, but for a man who'd spent several decades almost constantly training and fighting a secret war, his opinion was formed more from his direct experiences.

Therefore, the sight of three fully armed Atlesian Airships parked on Beacon's Airdocks wasn't exactly what he liked to see as he started off his day of work as a Huntsman.

"It would appear General Ironwood still hasn't learned to delegate his work to others whenever he travels," Glynda said.

Evidently, Toshinori wasn't the only one put off by the sight.

"In all fairness, he has to run both an academy and a military. Not exactly an easy combination." Ozpin said. "Though I will admit, it is quite the eyesore."

"Ironwood isn't the kind of man who does things without cause. I'm sure he has his reasons." Toshinori said.

"Well, why don't we ask him?" Ozpin said as a notification popped up from a display on his desk. "Come in," Ozpin said towards the elevator entrance as it promptly opened. In walked a man with black and gray hair, blue eyes, a white overcoat and suit pants, and silver boots. His right hand was covered in a white glove, and a silver metallic strip sat above his right eyebrow.

"Ozpin!" The steadfast Ironwood greeted as he entered the room. Beacon's headmaster walked and stood at attention.

"Hello, General," TOzpin said.

"Please, there's no need for such formalities," Ironwood said as the two men shook hands. "It's been too long. Same to you, All Might. And Glynda! It has certainly been too long since we last saw each other."

"Oh, James! I'll be outside." Glynda said bluntly as she walked into the elevator.

"I see she hasn't changed a bit," James said with a slight chuckle.

"So, tell me, James," Ozpin said as he turned back to his desk and poured three cups off coffee, one for each of them. "What in the world has brought you all the way down from Atlas? While a teacher or two might accompany students for the Vytal Festival, it's rare for Headmasters to do so."

"Well, I do love Vale this time of year," Ironwood said as he grabbed a cup of coffee and poured the contents of a canteen from his overcoat into it. "Besides, with you hosting and All Might teaching, I figured it would be a great chance for us to catch up."

"Well that's pretty reasonable, I guess," Toshinori said as he picked up his cup of coffee. "Though I'm concerned with the fleet outside the window."

"Concern _is_ what brought them here," Ironwood responded.

"I suppose that is fair. Travel between Kingdoms has become more difficult in recent months. I've been running Toshinori here ragged with taking care of the increasing amount of Grimm." Ozpin responded as he took a seat in his chair.

"You know very well why I brought those men here, Oz," Ironwood responded. The tension within the air became instantly palpable. Ozpin silently sipped at his coffee before responding.

"Shows of power like this during a time of peace is only going to give off the wrong impression."

"So you're just going to ignore Qrow's message, then?" Ironwood asked.

" _Queen has Pawns."_ That was the message that Qrow Branwen had relayed back from his most recent mission. While it wasn't a lot to go on, it was very clear to all three men who the Queen was that he'd been referring to.

"If Qrow's intel is true-"

"Then we will handle it the same way we always have; calmly and tactfully." Ozpin interrupted. "We've dealt with Pawns before and we can deal with Pawns again. This is the Vytal Festival. A time to celebrate and to show Remnant that the next generation of Hunters is ready to protect them. Transporting hundreds of soldiers halfway across the planet will only frighten people."

"I'm just being cautious," Ironwood said.

"We all are, James. That's part of why I came here, to ensure that I could train the best Hunters I could." Toshinori responded.

"I am too, believe me. Speaking of which, how goes your search for a successor?" Ironwood asked.

"He's training in this academy as we speak," Toshinori said with a small hint of pride.

"Well, then I look forward to meeting them," Ironwood said as he walked back towards the elevator. "Just make sure that they, and everyone else at this school, are prepared to win a war."

"With a little luck, they won't have to," Toshinori said to himself as the general exited the office.

"Speaking of Mr. Midoriya, how goes his training?" Ozpin asked.

"Better, I think. His basic combat prowess has gone up quite a bit over the past few weeks. That said, he still doesn't have the greatest control over One For All yet."

"Has he been able to use it without damaging himself yet?"

"Once, against that Nomu thing. We haven't been able to replicate it since, unfortunately."

"If that's the case, perhaps it might be worth calling in your old teacher," Ozpin said with a smug look on his face.

"Hahaha, good one Oz… you're joking right?" Toshinori asked as he tried his best to stop his legs from trembling in fear, earning a chuckle from the Headmaster.

* * *

 _4:15 P.M., Beacon Library_

"Izuku Midoriya and Katsuki Bakugo, prepare your Kingdom for battle!" Ruby cried out.

"Bring it on, brat! You're stupid robots don't stand a chance!" Katsuki yelled back.

"You guys, this is a library." Izuku pleaded.

Crowded around a single library table, Teams RWBY, and MSKI were playing the popular board game _Remnant: The Game_ , which Ruby had her father mail to Beacon to use as a team bonding exercise. However, MSKI ended up getting brought into it, resulting in four teams of two being formed. Katsuki and Izuku controlled Vale, Ruby and Weiss had Atlas, Yang and Blake played as Mistral, and Shoto and Tenya were Vacuo.

"Since Weiss and I used 'Bide' on our last turn, we can deploy two sets of cards to attack you," Ruby said.

"Fear not, we will ensure that the good people of Vale will be in good hands once you're crushed." Stated Weiss who, after having had Ruby explain the rules to her several times, was now thoroughly invested in the game.

"We deploy the 'Atlesian Air Fleet' and 'Hunter's Guild Support'!" Ruby said as she slammed two cards onto the table, one showing several Atlas Military Flagships, and the other sporting an image of several Hunters on it.

"I told you she was gonna use the Air Fleet, Kacchan," Izuku said.

"Shut up, we've got this in the bag!" Katsuki responded. "You may have flown over our army of Goliaths, but 'Hunter's Guild Support' is useless without a high roll." Ruby stared Katsuki down before picking up the dice and rolling them across the board. The dice stopped on two sixes.

"Dammit!""Yes!" Were Katsuki and Ruby's respective responses.

"You two can give up any time, you know," Weiss said smugly.

"We're not done yet. Your attack just activated our trap card, 'Quick Response'." Izuku said, eliciting a look of shock from Ruby. "That card allows us to deploy one card from our hand right now to serve as a defense," Izuku said.

"And we've got all the defense we need right here!" Katsuki yelled as he slammed a card onto the table, knocking over several metal pieces laid down on the board. He pulled his hand away from the card to reveal an unmistakable Hunter with an even more unmistakable smile. "We deploy All Might!"

"Whaaat?!" Ruby cried in surprise.

"He's got the highest attack and speed of any card in the game! You really think you're little rinky-dink ships and no-name Hunter's Guild can beat that?" Katsuki asked.

"Plus we already have a small garrison of Hunters in Vale proper, which means we get plus three on our defensive roll," Izuku said, doing his best to return Weiss' smug tone with one of his own.

"We'll just have to see about that," Ruby said as she went to grab the two six-sided dice. She quickly rolled the dice, getting a five and a four. She pumped her fist in the air while Izuku began to sweat nervously.

"Pssh. A nine's nothing!" Katsuki said as he picked up the dice and rolled them.

The blonde grenadier rolled a snake eyes.

"..."

"..."

"You boys got anything to say?" Yang asked.

"WHAT THE FU-!" Katsuki would've flipped the table if it weren't for Izuku quickly grabbing him and pulling him out of the way. After almost a full minute, Katsuki managed to calm down, and the game resumed.

"Don't worry, Kacchan. We still have some forces left in southern Sanus, so we're not out of the game."

"I know that, ya damned nerd. It's just stupid how some lame airships and weak-ass nobodies are supposed to be able to beat All Might." Katsuki responded.

"They weren't 'nobodies', Katsuki. They're members of the Hunter's Guild." Yang said.

"What's that got to do with anything?" Katsuki asked.

"What do mean 'What's it got to do with anything'? The Hunter's Guild is an elite group of Hunters hand-picked from each of the Four Kingdoms. You have to be one of the best on the planet to be one." Ruby said.

"I know that brat, I'm not stupid. But they're only chosen because they specialize in one thing and one thing only. They're all one-trick ponies." Katsuki said.

"They aren't one-trick ponies. They can outdo most other Hunters out there, they just usually only do one type of mission. They're not slouches or anything." Yang said.

"Well maybe I'll believe you once one of them actually makes the Top 10 Hunters list," Katsuki said.

"Most of their missions are classified, so they have a harder time reaching the top ranks, but it's happened before," Izuku said. "I know it's been a while, but I'm pretty sure that the last one was-"

"Our mom, Silver Angel," Ruby said, eliciting a look of surprise from the others around the table, save for Yang and, to a lesser extent, Izuku. "She got up to the number seven spot even as a member of the Hunter's Guild."

"Yeah, mom was pretty strong." Yang agreed quietly, though she appeared to be lost in thought at the word "mom". The table became stressfully quiet for several painful seconds.

"Alright Four-Eyes, Half-and-Half, it's your turn," Katsuki said, trying his best to alleviate the tension.

"R-Right," Tenya said as he adjusted his glasses. "We will deploy "Resourceful Raider" to take-"

 ***RING*RING***

Tenya was interrupted by a call on his Scroll. He looked at the contact before brightening up slightly.

"I apologize, but I'm afraid I'll have to take this call. It's from my elder brother." Tenya said.

"Tell him we say hi," Izuku said as the spectacled Hunter-in-Training stood up before walking a distance away out of eyeshot.

"Guess I just missed Tenya, huh?" Everyone turned to see Sun walking up to the table walking up towards the table.

"Oh, hey Sun," Izuku said.

"Hey, I've been looking for you guys." The monkey Faunus responded.

"Well, ya found us," Yang responded.

"Didn't you say you were gonna introduce us to the rest of your team today?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah, but things ended up getting sidetracked so they're hanging out with Team MAKO right now."

"Well if you're not busy you can take Tenya's spot while we're waiting for him to get back!" Ruby said.

"I appreciate it but board games aren't really my thing. Plus, I kinda need to talk to Blake about something."

"What is it?" Blake asked.

"It's… look, the library probably isn't the best place to talk about it." Sun responded, his face contorted into a pained look. Blake simply raised an eyebrow.

"Ok? Guess I'll be right back, guys." Blake said as she stood up and walked away with Sun.

"Ugh, we'll never finish the game if everyone keeps leaving," Ruby said solemnly.

"You and I do need to get ready for our next class soon," Weiss responded as she looked at a nearby clock.

"Huh? Oh crap, this is just like the first day!" Ruby said as she used her Semblance to speed out of the library.

"No, we were even later then," Weiss said with a chuckle. "We'll have to finish this game another time, then. I'll see you guys later." Weiss said as she followed after her partner.

"I don't know what you did Izuku but you actually got her to be… less Weiss-y." Yang responded.

"I-I didn't really do much. W-We just kinda talked, ya know." Izuku responded.

"Is that _all_ you did?" Yang teased, causing Izuku's face to turn as red as Ruby's hood.

"Pfft, like Deku would have the balls to do something like that," Katsuki responded.

"Like what?" Shoto asked.

"Gods, you are so dense, Half-and-Half," Katsuki muttered to himself.

"Don't worry about it, pretty boy. Let's just pick up my little sis' game since she so gracefully forgot to." Yang said.

* * *

 _Several Minutes Later_

"What is it, Sun?" Blake asked as she followed her fellow Faunus through the halls of Beacon.

"Not here, somewhere private." He quickly responded. Blake frowned with concern as she walked. Sun was a few feet ahead of her, so she couldn't see his expression, but his uncharacteristically quiet demeanor was offputting. After several minutes of silence, the two of them had found their way to one of the private sparring rooms within Beacon. After glancing inside and seeing it was unoccupied, Sun and Blake stepped in.

"You're worrying me Sun," Blake said as the monkey Faunus turned towards her.

"I… I'm sorry, I was just worried about… making a scene."

"What do you mean 'making a scene'?" Blake asked.

"... Earlier this morning I was out in Vale with my Team, giving them a tour of Vale. We ended up strolling through the Commercial District when we walked past Tucson's place. There were a bunch of police all over the place." As Sun spoke, Blake's breath hitched, her eyes widening with concern.

"Did they find out he was Ex-White Fang?" Blake asked. Sun pursed his lips as his gaze traveled towards the floor.

"No he… someone killed him." Sun spoke.

"... Huh?"

"I asked the police there for details but all I know is that he died of a gunshot wound to the head. The body had already been taken away by the time I got there so..." Sun looked up to see Blake's eyes obscured by her bangs.

"..."

"Blake… I-"

"Thank you, Sun. Thank you for telling me." Blake said quietly.

"Hey if you need-"

"Don't worry," Blake said as she looked back up at Sun with a faint smile. "I'll be ok, Sun." The monkey Faunus looked back with a mixed gaze but eventually just nodded. "I should probably get going. I-I… I have some stuff I still want to do today." Blake said as she quickly walked out of the sparring room. As she left, Sun saw her bring a hand up to her face, likely to rub away the tears that were sure to follow.

Sun paced slightly before banging his fist into the wall. Tucson was a good person. The second Blake and Sun had gone to him the night she left Beacon, Tucson accepted the two of them without question. He gave them food, beds, and a place to stay as long as they needed. And someone cut his life short.

He'd lied to Blake about not seeing the body. He thought that telling her about it would be too much for her to handle all at once. He saw how the top of the white body bag soaked through with blood. The sight made his stomach turn. Sun stood as tears rolled down his cheek onto the cold floor below him.

Whoever did this was going to pay.

* * *

 _That Night, 11:00 P.M._

Tomura brought up the hood on his black trenchcoat as he stepped out of Kurogiri's portal into the cold rain. He hated having to meet out in places he'd never been. It was dangerous, especially when you deal with the type of people Tomura deals with on a regular basis.

As he looked around his surroundings, he found himself within a dark alley in downtown Vale. The place was well kept for a back alley, no half-opened trash bags, no disgusting smells. Guess he was in a nicer part of town.

"This was the safest place I could find to warp us while also being close to the meeting point," Kurogiri said as he formed himself behind Tomura.

"It'll work. That bastard Torchwick really dropped the ball when it came to picking a meeting point."

"I doubt Miss Fall would have accepted the terms of our meeting if it wasn't in a neutral location," Kurogiri said.

"Yeah, you're probably right. I swear if that bitch thinks she can run this city..." Tomura said as he began to walk out of the alley towards the meeting point. Tomura might have to send a thank you letter to Ozpin. Beacon Academy and the Vale Council had been doing their damndest to cover up the fact that their Academy had been broken into and their first-year students were put in serious danger, so his face hadn't been plastered on Vale's Most Wanted List. That meant that, if necessary, he and Kurogiri could still walk around and not be instantly recognized by the general populace.

After walking a short distance, the two criminals walked into the building designated as their meeting point. The farther they got inside, the more annoyed Tomura got.

"Are they seriously blasting music in this place?" The hand-faced man asked as he reached up and began to scratch at his neck.

"Unfortunately, it would look quite suspicious if this club wasn't populated, so it's still been opened up to the public, albeit with a slightly more strict vetting process. It's quite popular amongst the seedier residents of Vale, so we shouldn't have to worry about any unwanted attention."

"I'll turn the owner to dust if I can still hear the music during our talk," Tomura said as he and Kurogiri reached the main room of the building. It was a giant open club space, with a large, square dance floor in the center and four pillars on each corner. To the left of the entrance was a bar, and to the right appeared to be a series of side rooms. Standing at the bar was Roman and Neo, with the former talking to the owner of the club, a tall well-dressed man named Junior Xiong. Tomura quickly made his way over towards the men, followed by his misty companion.

"Well well well, if it isn't good ol' Shigi himself!" Torchwick said as he gestured towards the approaching man. "We were just talking about you."

"What about me?" Tomura asked with annoyance.

"Oh, nothing in particular, just had to make sure Mr. Xiong here wouldn't kick you out before your little meeting even started," Roman responded.

"I'll keep things simple, kid," Junior said. "I have a reputation to keep, so I prefer to know who I'm letting into my club. And Torchwick here hasn't exactly been willing to tell me much about you. So before we send you to your little talk why don't you tell me a little bit about yourself."

"An interview, eh? Well this first thing you should know about me is that I don't like being called 'kid'. Second, you better let me back there before-"

"I apologize, Mr. Xiong. Tomura's disposition is not one that favors diplomacy." Kurogiri said as he stepped in between the two men. "While I understand your fears, I can assure you our presence here will be of no trouble to your establishment. If your fears need further assuaging, I will be more than happy to double the money already sent to your account for hosting this meeting."

"Double? That's quite a hefty sum of money." Junior said.

"Money is of no consequence to us," Kurogiri said.

"Hmmm, well if you're willing to pay then fine, just make sure you're not seen once you leave."

"I assure you that will be the case," Kurogiri said.

"Now that that's all settled, let's get this meeting underway, shall we?" Roman said as he gestured for Tomura, Kurogiri, and Neo to follow him to the other side of the dance floor towards the side rooms. "You have no idea how hard it was to let him come here without knowing about you guys. If he knew about the BRTC, he probably would've called in some Hunters." Roman said quietly.

"So even an information broker like him hasn't heard about us. Good to know." Tomura said. "Though next time I suggest you pick a spot with less annoying people. And annoying music."

"Not the party type, Shigi? Never would've guessed." Roman said earning a silent chuckle from Neo.

"You're as insufferable as you are useful, ya know that," Tomura said with a low growl, only earning a smug grin from Roman. The four of them walked up a set of stairs before going down a hall away from the dance floor. After a short distance, Roman opened up a side door which lead into a side room. Tomura was the first to enter, followed by Kurogiri, Neo, and then Roman.

As Tomura pulled the hood off his jacket, he was happy to know that the club music did not, in fact, reach this room once the door was closed. He looked around the room to find it fairly empty, only a couple of chairs and a small table pushed over to the side.

Sitting over at said table was a young-looking man and woman. The man had grey hair and eyes along with a grey and black jacket and pants. He had light armoring on his arms, and his black boots appeared bulky. The rounds left open to see on the sides let Tomura know they were his weapon of choice.

The woman had medium-brown skin, red eyes, and mint green hair. She had a white and olive-green top, white pants with brown chaps, and high-heeled pumps. She appeared to have two green revolvers strapped around the back of her waist.

However, Tomura was far more concerned with the woman leaning against the far wall staring directly at him.

She had black hair and amber eyes which boldly gazed into Tomura's red ones. She wore a dark red and yellow v-neck mini dress with black shorts. She wore a black choker around her neck and dark, glass, high heels.

"You Cinder Fall?" Tomura asked as he stepped forward towards the middle of the room.

"I am. And you're Tomura Shigaraki?" Cinder said as she walked forward to meet him.

"Yeah," Tomura responded as Cinder halted a few feet in front of him. She offered up her hand for him to shake. "I doubt you really wanna do that," Tomura said without breaking eye contact with the woman. She simply raised an eyebrow before retracting her hand.

"Don't you know it's improper to be so rude to a lady?" Cinder asked condescendingly.

"Don't you know it's improper to break the rules of our arrangement? We agreed to one extra person to accompany us each. So why'd you bring along those brats?" Tomura said as he gestured to the table. The man at the table stood up in response only for Cinder to extend a hand out to stop him.

"Those are my associates Emerald Sustrai and Mercury Black. I felt it necessary to bring them here as last time I left the two of them unattended they killed a store owner without my permission." Cinder said; a response Roman seemed to get a kick out of. Tomura doubted that was the reason, at least not the main reason, but he figured it wouldn't matter. Worst case scenario Kurogiri could warp in a Nomu, even if it was one of the weaker, unfinished ones.

"Tch. Whatever." Tomura said.

"Well then if no one's gonna start a fight then we can get onto business," Roman said as he stepped forward, staying a few feet from each of them. "Shigaraki, since you decided to call this meeting, why don't you start us off?"

"Fine. I want you to stop hogging all the manpower in Vale." Tomura said as he extended out a finger.

"Hogging the manpower? You'll have to be more specific." Cinder responded.

"It took months of negotiating with the White Fang just to get half a dozen of their guys to help us out with a job, but we were pretty good terms. Then, I learned that the White Fang faction we'd been talking to got absorbed into a larger faction, and now they won't so much as respond to one of our messages. We even saved their men from being captured by the police after _your_ job a couple of weeks ago went south and they're still giving us the cold shoulder."

"And what's your point?" Cinder asked, her eyes narrowing at the mention of the failed robbery at the Docks.

"My point is I want some of those White Fang troops sent our way. Since I'm in a generous mood, I promise you'll be well paid in return. We'll put them to better use than you anyways." Tomura said.

"'Better use'? You mean another failed attempt to attack Beacon?"

"... Roman…"

"Woah now, don't look at me!" Roman said as he put his hands up defensively. "I didn't tell her anything."

"Is that so?" Tomura said.

"Do you truly believe your actions will go unnoticed by everyone? You're not the biggest fish in the pond, Tomura." Cinder taunted. "For the record, I too went to great lengths to get the cooperation of the White Fang, so I think it'll take more than Lien to make me share."

"Get to the point," Tomura said as he struggled not to scratch at his neck.

"Since he arrived in Vale, All Might's been incredibly active throughout the entire Kingdom. It's rare he goes more than a day without completing a mission. But after you attacked the BRTC, he didn't complete another mission for a full four days."

"I said get to the point." Tomura spat out.

"How'd you hurt him that bad?" Cinder asked.

"So that's what you're after?" Tomura said. "You just wanted to know what resources we had at our disposal."

"You've caught me red-handed." Cinder said sarcastically. "Now answer the question."

"And why should I tell you that?" Tomura said.

"I might be tempted to send some White Fang your way. Let's say… fifteen percent of their total forces? It all depends on how good your answer is, of course." Cinder said with a smug look.

"We had someone on our side who could hit him hard. Not much else to it." Tomura said.

"And this person, where are they?"

"Why would that matter?"

"I'd very much like to meet them. I think she and I could get along."

 _She?_ Tomura thought to himself. "Well our Tank ended up getting K.O.'d and captured, so I'm sorry to burst your bubble. Besides, he wasn't much of a talker." Tomura responded. At the word "he" Cinder's calm facade faltered for a second, showing the tiniest bit of surprise. She paused for a moment, glancing towards the ground, then towards Emerald and Mercury, before speaking.

"Captured, huh? Well, I'm not sure what I was expecting from some ragtag bunch like you. I don't know why I even considered lending you the White Fang." Cinder said with a sigh. Her voice made Tomura's ear bleed with every word. He almost charged at her in rage, wanting nothing more than to turn her into a pile of Dust.

However, before he committed to attacking her, he heard the slight shuffling of feet to his left. He turned to see that Mercury and adjusted himself in his chair, angling his body towards Tomura ever so slightly. Emerald's hands were slowly working their way towards her weapons. When he turned back and made eye contact with Cinder, the look she was giving him was one which made the hairs on his neck stand on end. Her piercing amber eyes were waiting, like a lion waiting for its prey to move one step closer before pouncing on them.

She wanted him to attack.

"...Kurogiri… we're done here. Open up a portal." Tomura said. Everyone in the room was taken aback by his order. Even Cinder had trouble containing her surprise.

"As you wish," Kurogiri said before opening a Warp Gate. Tomura gave one last look towards Cinder before turning and walking into the void. "Until next time Mr. Torchwick, Ms. Fall," Kurogiri said before teleporting himself away.

"Well, _that_ did not go as expected. I've got another contact I need to meet tonight. I trust you can find the way out." Roman said before he and Neo quickly exited the room.

"Well, that sucks. I was hoping we were actually gonna fight it out right here." Mercury said with a sigh. "I thought you said he had a bad temper, Em."

"That's what everyone said. At least everyone who I could actually get to talk about him." Emerald said defensively.

"What else did you learn?" Cinder asked with a hint of annoyance.

"W-Well, nothing really. He showed up in Vale about three months after All Might did. That hit on the BRTC has been the only thing of note he's done. No one knows where he came from." Emerald responded.

 _He said the person who hurt All Might was a he. Was he just lying, or is there actually someone on Remnant who isn't a Maiden that can go toe-to-toe with All Might? I need to learn more: who he is, where's he's from, what he's planning. I can't have him getting in the way of what's to come._ Cinder thought. "Let's go. We've done all we can for tonight."

"I thought you were planning on killing him?" Emerald asked as she and Mercury stood up.

"I was. But who knows. With a little luck, he may end up being more useful to us alive." Cinder said.

* * *

 _Next Day, 6:30 A.M., Beacon Academy_

"Why the hell did Four-Eyes make us wake up this early on a Saturday?" Katsuki grumbled to himself as he, Izuku, and Shoto walked through one of Beacon Academy's courtyards.

"Aren't you usually in bed by 8:30?" Shoto asked.

"Shut up, Half-and-half! And walk behind me!" Katsuki yelled back.

"Tenya didn't say why he wanted us to get up before he left the room. All he said was to meet up with him in front of the cafeteria." Izuku said.

"At least I can grab some food while we're there," Katsuki grumbled. As the three of them approached the cafeteria, they saw two figures standing in front of it. The first one was Tenya, who appeared to be talking quite excitedly with the other person.

The other person was a man a few inches taller than Tenya. His face and hair looked a lot like Tenya's, though his face was slightly longer and he didn't wear any glasses. His clothing appeared to be very similar to Tenya's combat gear, although he appeared to have more armor on his arms than Tenya did. In addition, the letters "ING" were painted in black on his left shoulder.

"Ah, they're here!" Tenya said as he turned to see his teammates arriving. "You three, I'd like you to meet my elder brother, Tensei! Brother, this is my partner Shoto Todoroki, our leader Izuku Midoriya, and his partner Katsuki Bakugo."

"Ah, so these are the teammates I've heard so much about. It's a pleasure to meet you." Tensei said as he stuck out a hand towards the teens.

"It's nice to meet you as well," Shoto said he shook Tensei's hand.

"So this is why you dragged us all out of bed, huh?" Katsuki said.

"Y-You're the Turbo Huntsman Ingenium! I-It's an honor to meet you, sir!" Izuku said as he grasped Tensei's hand with both of his before shaking it.

"Ha! Always nice to meet a fan, I guess." Tensei said as he scratched at the back of his head.

"Fuckin' nerd," Katsuki said under his breath.

"I arrived in Vale yesterday with General Ironwood, so I decided it'd be good to finally meet my little brother's teammates in person," Tensei said.

"Ironwood? So that's why there are three giant airships here." Shoto said.

"Why's that pompous general here?" Katsuki asked.

"We're mainly just here to assist with preparations for the Vytal Festival. And I wouldn't recommend calling him pompous to his face." Tensei joked.

"You mentioned you had something you wanted to do with us, brother?" Tenya asked.

"I do. I'm interested to see how you've improved since coming to Beacon, Tenya. And while I could just look at your grades, I wanted to do it firsthand."

"I see. An entirely understandable and logical concern." Tenya said as he waved his arms.

"Glad to see you're still a bit of a robot," Tensei said with a laugh, causing Katsuki to smirk. "I was thinking something along the lines of a little bit of sparring."

"Ha! Now that's is more like it!" Katsuki said with a manic grin.

"We'd be honored to spar with you, Mr. Ingenium!" Izuku said enthusiastically. Shoto simply nodded an affirmative.

"I can't think of a better idea, brother!" Tenya said.

"Awesome! Let's grab some breakfast and then get to it!" Tensei said as he motioned towards the cafeteria, before leading the four of them into the building.

 _I'll be able to show Tensei how much I've progressed! I can't disappoint him!_ Tenya thought.

* * *

 _Same Time, Downtown Vale_

As the sun slowly rose above the horizon, a man sat on the edge of a rooftop, watching the rising sun reflect off the water. He had no idea Vale's namesake city could be this beautiful, he would've come sooner had he known. He turned to see people walking along the streets below him. Some going on a morning jog, others preparing to open up their local shops, others heading to work.

He enjoyed seeing stuff like this, people just being people. It reminded him of what he was fighting for, why he walked the path he walked.

For the same reason, he looked up towards Beacon Academy. Though he couldn't see any part of the main campus from here, he could see where three airships had parked themselves.

 _Atlas_ Airships.

He hated that Kingdom. He hated the Hunter who walked in the halls of that academy. He hated that they had the gall to dawn the uniform of a soldier. That wasn't the purpose of a true Hunter. A Hunter's loyalty should never be to a Kingdom. No government should ever have the right to tell the protectors of the world how to operate.

They should be loyal to the people, to all people, regardless of race or creed.

They should fight the Creatures of Grimm and those who would try to harm the innocent for their own gain.

He would remind the world what the role of a Hunter was. He would remind _Atlas_.

He looked down in front of him at his array of weapons, a various supply of knives and other blades which could be easily concealed within his armor. The centerpiece of it all was his prized katana, Culling Force. His equipment had seen better days, and he could stand to get some replacements, but it would do for now.

Chizome Akaguro stood up and gazed once more at the sun.

"Let's begin."

* * *

 **A/N**

 **That's it for the start of Volume 2. It's a much shorter chapter than some of my other ones, but I still think it turned out alright.**

 **Chapter Commentary:**

 **-The Eight-Man Board Game Scene is an idea I've had for quite a while. I really just wanted to introduce the Hunter's Guild in a semi-organic manner. I got the idea from Hunter x Hunter's Hunter Association. They're basically a group of the best of the best Hunters who get assigned classified missions. They're not beholden to the authority of a single Kingdom, but they do cooperate with a Kingdom when they have a mission in that area. Not all the best Hunters in the world work for the guild, such as All Might, Endeavor, or Qrow.**

 **-I had Tucson's death be offscreen as I wasn't gonna make any changes to it, so I figured it wasn't worth writing. If you wanna rewatch the scene for whatever reason, go for it, it's pretty good overall.**

 **-I had trouble figuring out exactly what to put in Cinder and Shigaraki's meeting. I think it turned out half decent though, and I look forward to more villain interactions in the future, especially as we approach Volume 3!**

 **-Tensei's gonna get some decent screentime next chapter. I'll have to do some reworking of his fighting style, as he mainly relies on using his Engine Quirk in MHA proper, but in this setting, he and Tenya don't have Engines poking out of their bodies. I'll make sure the "Turbo" aspect of his fighting style stays in though.**

 **-Stain's motives have changed slightly, as the premise of "false heroes" doesn't really exist in RWBY the same way it does in MHA. He's mainly here to target Atlas, as he believes their militarization has bastardized their Kingdom's Hunters.**

 **Reviews:**

 **1jesus - Thanks, hope you enjoy what I have to write for the volume.**

 **RHatch89 - Glad you enjoyed it!**

 **Trey Alexander - I'm glad you enjoyed their talk, I put a lot of work into it, so thanks! I'm also happy you enjoyed my changes to the docks fight. Hopefully, you also enjoyed Cinder and Tomura's interactions as well. There will certainly be more to come.**

 **Guest - Yeah, hopefully they're able to have Jiro's singing turn out well. Not sure if either the Japanese of English VAs are experienced singers, but if they are, they could just have them sing, we'll have to see. I'm sure the choreography will be good for the dance. I'm personally more hyped to see Gentle and La Brava in action though.**

 **We depressed (Boloipi) - Thanks for understanding my exclusion of Penny. Hopefully you'll enjoy what's to come with here, though.**

 **Next chapter I'll probably give my final thoughts on V7 and how I think it ranks against the other volumes, along with my thought on MHA S4, depending on hos much of it is out by that point.**

 **See ya next time!**


	13. As a Team

**I do not own RWBY nor My Hero Academia all rights belong to Monty Oum and Kohei Horikoshi and their respective publishing companies.**

 **I do not own the cover image.**

 **Chapter 13: As a Team**

* * *

 _8:30, Beacon Academy, Sparring Room_

"Ready… go!"

Tenya was the first to move as he used his Semblance to blitz forward. He took a swing at Tensei's chest which the Pro-Hunter easily dodged. Before the teen could make another move, his elder brother sank a quick fist into his face, launching him back a short distance.

Tensei had no time to celebrate however as Izuku came in from the side and attempted to deliver a right cross to avenge his teammate. Tenya quickly moved and threw the punch off course with his arm. Izuku attempted several more punches with each arm at varying angles, each one simply deflected in the same way. One forceful deflection knocked Izuku ever so slightly off his footing, giving Tensei the chance to deliver two quick punches to his chest, knocking the wind out of him.

As Tensei was about to deliver a third strike he heard the sound of running behind him. Tensei instinctively crouched down low as Tenya charged and went for an overhead strike. The teen tripped over the crouched pro, causing him to tumble and run into Izuku. Both teens tumbled to the floor.

"Ugh! Sorry, Izuku!" Tenya said as he struggled to his feet.

"Y-You're good, don't worry about it," Izuku reassured.

"You two sure you don't wanna call it?" Tensei asked with a slight chuckle.

"We're not finished yet!" Tenya said as he and Izuku both charged at Tensei. Izuku went low while Tenya went high in their assault, but Tensei simply weaved away from every attack. Tenya went for a quick stab with Legacy but Tensei grabbed his arm. Before the teen could realize what had happened, Tensei spun both him and his younger brother around and whipped Tenya at Izuku. The young successor barely managed to duck underneath his airborne teammate and attempted to go back on the assault against the pro-Hunter. However, when he looked up in front of him, Tensei was nowhere to be seen.

 _Oh crap…_

Izuku's thought was accompanied by a sharp pain in his neck as Tensei delivered a quick chop to the back of his neck. Izuku fell to the ground, his Aura barely managing to maintain itself.

"That's the match! Tensei takes the win… again." Weiss said from the side of the arena.

"Well, that was better than before… I think…" Izuku said as Tensei helped him get up to his feet.

"You guys are lasting a bit longer than before but you're still lacking," Tensei said.

"Oh, me next!" Nora said from the sidelines.

"You wouldn't even be able to touch him, ginger," Katsuki said as he sat down with bandages over his ribs.

"I won't know until I try!"

"You won't," Shoto said as he held an icepack up to his face.

Currently occupying the sparring room were Team MSKI, Tensei, Team JNPR, Weiss, and Ruby. Over the past few days, Tensei had been taking some of his free time to spar with his younger brother's team, whether it be in one on ones or two on ones. After the second day, Team JNPR and RWBY had stopped by to watch the fights take place.

After five days of sparring, Tensei had yet to be touched a single time.

"You say they're lacking but these guys aren't pushovers. Shoto's one of the strongest fighters in our year, and Mr. Explody Boy isn't half bad either..." Nora said.

"Hey!"

"Plus Izuku's Semblance is really strong and Tenya has good skills with his sword. And he's really fast!" She continued through Katsuki's interruption.

"While that may be true, my brother is also incredibly fast without having a Semblance which boosts his speed," Tenya said as Jaune helped him over to the side of the area.

"What is your Semblance anyway?" Ruby asked.

"My Semblance is called Accelerate," Tensei said as he and Izuku walked over to the side as well. "It works on the same basic principle as Tenya's since our family's Semblance is hereditary, however, my Accelerate works on my arms while Tenya's Accelerate is in his legs. And I never said you four were lacking as individuals. Don't get me wrong, you all still have a long way to go to improve yourselves. I meant that your _teamwork_ is lacking."

"Really? I mean they did end up tripping into each other at one point, but it looked like you actually had to put in some real effort after that when they both came at you at once." Jaune said.

"Indeed I did. You've got a good eye for combat, kid." Tensei said, surprising Jaune. "I'm not entirely sure how they teach here at Beacon, but if it's anything like Atlas, I'm guessing most of your teachers have focused on building you up as individuals rather than as a team."

"Well, All Might does have us do some team sparring every now and then, so it's not like we haven't done any team fighting stuff," Nora said.

"Have they asked you guys to come up with any Team Attacks yet?" All ten teens gave each other quizzical looks before shaking their heads. "Thought so," Tensei said with a chuckle.

"When you're fighting an opponent with teammates, working cohesively gives you the best chance of success. The bare minimum for this is making sure you guys aren't getting in each other's way. Once you can successfully do that, it becomes a matter of overwhelming your opponents by working together. If you want to get the absolute most out of having people fighting by your side then you need to combine your skills together both to enhance your strengths and cover your weaknesses. That's what Team Attacks are for. They're moves that you and your partners set up beforehand and use when the situation calls for it."

"Oh, in that case, Ren and I already have one," Nora said.

"Really?"

"Yeah, it's where Ren shoots me and makes the opponent think he just friendly fired but really he was charging up my Semblance with Lightning Dust."

"Oh yeah, you guys used that against Kacchan in our first spar in All Might's class," Ruby said.

"It was a two on one so I was already at a disadvantage, it wasn't anything special! And who the fuck said you could call me that you little brat?!" Katsuki shouted as he tried to stand up.

"You're gonna hurt yourself more if you move," Shoto said. Katsuki turned to shout at his teammate before clutching his side in pain. He slowly sat back down, grumbling to himself.

"Well, sounds like you two must've worked together for quite a while before coming to this school to come up with that idea, huh?" Tensei asked.

"Yep, we've been together for a loooong time! But not, like, together-together." Nora said.

"Yeah, sure," Tensei said, slightly confused by Nora's wording. "But still, that Team Attack could use a lot of improvement. Based on your description of it, it sounds like it relies too much on the enemy letting their guard down. That won't work on everyone, unfortunately. Also, if it doesn't work the first time you won't be able to use it again since they'll see it coming the second time."

"So what would you say is a good Team Attack?" Izuku asked.

"Well, there are a lot of different types of Team Attacks, so there isn't exactly one answer. That said, there are some things that all good ones have in common. First: They should require minimal setup. You want to be able to execute Team Attacks quickly and succinctly. Second: They should be able to be executed in a variety of environments. Third, and probably the most important: You need to have absolute confidence. If you or your teammate get worried that the attack won't work and hesitate, it could lead to disaster. You need to trust not only in yourself but in your partner. Most teams will only come up with several Team Attacks but will practice them to the point where even an above-average Grimm or criminal has no chance of countering them. It's what my team did.

"Also, where did that notebook come from?" Tensei asked as he pointed to Izuku, sat on the ground muttering to himself as he wrote in one of his many notebooks.

"The damn nerd's always got one on 'im," Katsuki grumbled.

"So can we spar you? Come on, let Ren and I impress you with our sweet teamwork!" Nora said as she jumped up and down.

"Sorry, but that's all the time I've got for today," Tensei said as he walked over and grabbed a bag of his equipment from the sidelines. "I'm afraid I won't be able to do any more sparring for the next few days, the General needs me to work overtime for a little bit."

"Darn." Nora sulked.

"That's understandable. The General wouldn't have brought you here if your skills weren't necessary." Tenya said.

"Way to put it succinctly, little brother," Tensei said with a laugh. "You guys just keep training. Keep doing that and I'm sure you'll all be stronger than me by the time you graduate." The Atlesian Hunter walked towards the exit. He gave one last look towards the teens. "You really have improved a lot, Tenya."

As his elder brother closed the door behind him, Tenya was filled with an overwhelming sense of pride, so much so that he had to wipe the tiniest of tears from the corners of his eyes.

"You've got a pretty cool brother, huh, Tenya," Jaune said.

"Yes… yes, I do."

"Don't start getting all emotional on us Four-Eyes," Katsuki said.

"We have class in about an hour, so we should probably get going," Shoto said as he slowly stood up.

"He's gonna regret giving us so much time off the train. I'll wipe the floor with him next time." Katsuki said as he stood up as well.

"Only after you let the rest of us go first!" Ruby cheered.

"Yeah, you four've already had your turns. Time to let the rest of us have a go." Nora agreed.

"Like hell that's gonna happen!" Katsuki yelled back.

"It would be nice to spar with him, especially since he was on the same team as Winter," Weiss said to herself. "What will you be doing for the hour before class starts Izuk-" As the heiress turned around to look at her classmate she found him walking towards the exit with his notebook held up to his face closely.

"weallhaveprettydiversearsenalssoitjustcomesdowntousingthemeffectivelymaybesomethingtostunopponentswithouthurtingthemtoobadyeahthatcouldworkthebestoptionwouldprobablybetohaveShotofreezetheminplacebutwhatisthey'refasterthanhisicethatcouldbeaproblemmaybe-"

Weiss held back a laugh as Izuku got into what Yang had affectionately nicknamed "the nerd zone" with his muttering. _Already looking to improve, huh?_ Weiss thought as their group walked out of the sparring room.

"Hey, that room's open now, right?" The teens turned around to see two other students behind them, both looking to be upperclassmen. The one who'd asked the question was a silver-haired boy standing next to a green-haired girl with red eyes.

"Yeah, we're done with it," Ruby said.

"Have we seen you two around before, you look familiar," Pyrrha said.

"We have the same sparring class later in the day." The girl said. "I'm Emerald and this is Mercury. We're both third years from Haven Academy."

"Well, we'll see you guys around. If you ever need help finding anything around the school just ask." Ruby said as the group walked off.

"That was Pyrrha Nikos, right?" Mercury whispered.

"Pretty sure, yeah. Plus Endeavor's kid and the Schnee Heiress." Emerald responded.

"And here I thought our job would be boring until the festival starts."

* * *

 _8:50, Team RWBY's Dorm_

Blake grew increasingly antsy as she flipped to the next page in the book she was reading. Well, she wasn't exactly reading it at that moment in time, it was more like she was using it as a shield. As the teenage Faunus sat in her bed she kept the book positioned to block the gazes of the two blondes currently in the dorm room with her. Across the gap between the bunk beds, Yang sat cross-legged on Weiss' bed. Sun sat at the desk by the room's door. Neither of them had any intention of leaving the room without a conversation, the exact thing Blake so desperately wanted to avoid.

In her eyes, getting her friends involved in her past any more than she already had was the worst-case scenario.

She flipped over the page in her book yet again, bringing it even closer to her face. It was the smell of it that bothered her the most. She'd bought the book not too long ago from Tukson's, so it smelled like his shop. A nostalgic smell that held a warm place in her heart. It hurt to know that if she went there now that nostalgia would be tainted with the smell of blood. Her hands wouldn't stop trembling.

" _Looks like your friends aren't as angry as you feared."_

As the memories of the last time she saw him face to face ran through her head, Blake took a deep shaky breath. She knew what he'd want her to do if he were here right now, but that didn't make the job any easier. With a great sense of reluctance, she closed the book and placed it to her right.

"You ready to talk?" Yang asked. Blake tensed up a bit at the bluntness with which the teen spoke but quickly calmed herself down as best she could

"Ever since Tukson… died, I haven't been able to think straight. And it's not just because I miss him, I do, but it's also because there's no one stopping it from continuing. Tukson was killed because he left the White Fang, that's the only reason something like this would happen. And Tukson wasn't even doing anything that hurt the Fangsignificantly either, all he did was help people who left the Fang. If they went after him they'll go after anyone. And there's more than the White Fang, there's Roman Torchwick and the Grim Legion too. I can't shake the feeling in the bottom of my stomach that _something_ is coming and that no one will be prepared for it."

"Hey, I get where you're coming from, believe me, but your guys' headmaster said he had things under control. Besides, we've got fricking All Might right here at Beacon. I'm sure they'll have this thing handled soon." Sun said.

"Well I'm not! You guys haven't seen the White Fang like I have. You don't know what they're capable of. The people in there are… they're not the kind of people to be taken lightly."

"Look, as much I love the idea of running in, kicking ass, and taking names, we can't afford to do that in this situation. We got pulled out of danger by All Might at the BRTC and we caught them off guard with the Docks. We're just not ready to take the fight to them." Yang said.

"And when _will_ we be? Once we graduate? They're not just gonna wait for us to be ready. They're out there right now plotting to do… _something_! And we have no idea what is, how big it will be, or who it'll hurt!"

"Then let's take them down before they get that chance!" Blake, on the verge of tears, turned towards the entrance to see Ruby standing there with a smile plastered on her face.

"I told you to be quiet!" Weiss yelled from outside the room as she reached in smacked Ruby on the back of the head.

"Ouch! But it's true, we can't just wait for them to strike again, we have to hit them before they're ready. We need to take the… um… what's the word?"

"Initiative!"

"Right, take the initiative! Thanks, Izuku!" Ruby yelled to the green-haired teen out in the hall.

"If we're going on the hunt again, count me in!" Katsuki yelled from the hall as well.

"Don't you feel that we should think this through more? Our last investigation didn't pan out at all. We only discovered the White Fang and Torchwick's plans because of Sun." Weiss said.

"Well, it'll be even easier now that we've got a better idea of who exactly we're looking for. Plus you've got eight extra sets of hands with MAKO and my team backing you guys up." Sun said.

"Isn't that a bit excessive?" Weiss asked.

"Not when you're dealing with _three_ different groups of baddies," Yang said.

"Alrighty then, let's form the greatest five-team coalition that this world's ever seen!" Ruby cheered. Blake sat stunned for a moment before nodding in solidarity.

"Right! We're in this together!"

* * *

 _The Next Day, 7:30 PM, Beacon Academy, Sparring Room_

"Another venture out then?" All Might asked as he sat on the bench watching his protege train.

"Looks like it. I'm guessing we'll be starting in a few days maybe." Izuku said as he used a modified Atlesian Knight 130 as a sparring dummy, practicing his hand to hand combat.

"You got any plans on what to do?"

"Well, since it was the Schnees who got attacked by the White Fang at the docks, Weiss plans on checking the SDC records for any major inconsistencies. We'll also probably head into the seedier parts of Vale looking for information. That should cover the Grim Legion and Torchwick."

"Try to be careful down there. Make sure not to go at it alone and don't even give a hint as to who you are."

"Got it. Lastly, Blake's planning on figuring out when and where the White Fang will have their next big rally. Not sure if she's planning on breaking it up or just spying on them."

"Miss Belladonna really is obsessed with this, isn't she."

"Yeah… she really is. We've been trying to figure out a way to get through to her and really put her mind at ease, but cutting off the source of the problem is the best we can think of. You wouldn't happen to have any ideas, would you?"

"Ha, trust me kid, when it comes to obsessing over a goal, I have a hard time stopping myself."

"What do you mean?" Izuku asked, turning away from the training dummy towards his mentor.

"There have been several times in my life where one single goal has been all I could think of. The first one I know you can sympathize with: becoming a great Huntsman."

"I guess when you put it that way I don't have much of a right to criticize either."

"Honestly, it becomes that way with most Hunters out there. The only way we're able to find satisfaction is when we choose the greatest goal we can for ourselves and do everything we can to achieve it, for better or for worse."

"Yeah. What were the other ones?"

"Well, some of the ones in between we… we can save for another time. But the most recent two have been finding a successor and making sure you become as strong as you can."

"Guess I've kind of let you down in that regard, huh? I still have no real clue what I'm doing in regards to controlling One For All."

"Don't put all the blame on yourself kid, I'm not the best teacher. I was pretty much able to use 100% of One For All right out the gate."

"That doesn't make me feel much better." Izuku sulked. "Hey, if we're not getting anywhere with just the two of us, maybe we could get the person who trained you to help me."

"NO WAY!" All Might yelled out as blood spurted from his mouth, startling Izuku to no end. "I think that we can find a way to progress without taking such… _drastic measures_."

" _Drastic"? What's so drastic about it?_ Izuku thought to himself.

"To me, it looks like you've improved a lot in your hand to hand fighting in just a short time."

"Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you that I've been sparring in the mornings with my team against Tenya's brother Tensei. We've only done it a few times but I think I've managed to improve drastically."

"Excellent! Then for the next few times I'm able to work with you let's put everything into improving your control over One For All starting now."

"Sounds good!" Izuku said as he excitedly took off Peacekeepers to avoid breaking them.

 _Miss Belladonna isn't far off the mark, something big_ is _coming. Torchwick, the White Fang, the Grim Legion. Too many powers are converging at once. But even worse, there are too many unknowns. There are still unseen enemies we need to uncover before it's too late. Hopefully James will be able to lend a hand with what's to come. But even with the might of Atlas, I fear we may not be ready. I need to talk with Oz. We'll likely need to call in members of the Hunters' Guild to help deal with this, the stronger ones._

 _I wish I could shake the feeling in the back of my head that_ he _has something to do with this. I've been done with him for five years, I'd rather not deal with what he left behind any more than I already have._

* * *

 _Two Days Later, Vale's Industrial District, 2:00 A.M._

The second the distress signal had reached his ears, Tensei was on the move. After three days of near-constant patrolling he'd finally shown himself. Ironwood had gone out of his way to plant several fake sites where Atlas Military Equipment was being held in the hopes of drawing out their elusive target.

And now they had him in their sights.

"We're at the warehouse now, going in from the east side."

"Negative. Do not enter the building yet, I'll be there in less than three minutes." Tensei responded to the Atlesian Sergeant.

"If we don't move in now he might run off before we have the chance to take him down. Besides, there's five of us, we should do fine until you get here." The Sergeant retorted.

"This guy's no pushover, the only way we can take him down is if we work together!" Tensei shouted into his earpiece.

"We're entering the building, requesting radio silence."

Tensei picked up the pace as he sprinted through the dark streets.

He was at the warehouse in just under a minute and a half, sweat dripping from his brow. He entered through an open window on the north side of the building. The warehouse was mostly empty with the exception of a few empty crates with Atlesian Military labels on them left out as bait.

When Tensei realized that the building was dead quiet, he silently pulled out his scroll and requested backup. Hopefully, some of the new AK-200s would be here within a few minutes. He slowly kept moving forward as quietly as he could. He still heard nothing but the sound of his own heart beating. He tried his best to sense the Auras of anyone else in the building, but he felt nothing.

That is until he felt his foot stepping into a puddle. It startled him for a moment before he quickly recovered his composure. He looked down on the bottom of his armored boot to see it painted red with blood. He looked back down to see the body of the Atlesian Sergeant with blood pouring from his throat.

Before he could make any attempt to help, he heard a small thud behind him. He instantly jumped forward to avoid a blade being sunk directly into his back. He spun in midair and turned back towards where he stood not a moment ago. The first thing he saw was a katana lit up by the moonlight with a silver glow that had almost struck him. The shadowy figure that held the weapon took several steps forward, past the dead Atlesian soldier, allowing Tensei to get a better look at him.

The man's most striking feature was his blood-red eyes.

"I recognize you. You're Ingenium right?" A raspy voice called out.

"I am," Tensei said as he steadied his stance. "And you're Stain, right?"

"That is the name you people have been calling me, isn't it."

"You'll be coming with me now," Tensei said.

"I have no intention of being defeated by a false Hunter like you." Stain said as he brought his blade up and pointed it straight at Tensei. "You're just another heretic to be purged from this world.

"And you won't be the last."

* * *

 **A/N**

 **And there's another chapter done. The next one should come out sooner, hopefully.**

 **Chapter Commentary**

 **\- I wanted to emphasize the importance of teamwork early on so I figured having Tensei give them some advice on the subject was a good way to do it. One thing I really like to see in shows is when the villains are significantly stronger than the heroes and the only way to heroes win is through outsmarting the villains and working together, so Tensei's basically showing why that's important. It does mean that Team RWBY hasn't come up with their team attacks at the same time they did in canon, but I figure that makes more sense in this story seeing as they didn't really all get on good terms until the end of V1.**

 **\- Blake's scene is basically unchanged in terms of what's accomplished in canon, it's just changed a bit aesthetically.**

 **\- Izuku still doesn't have Full Cowl yet, but he'll get it soon. All Might's also beginning to get worried even more over AFO coming back from the dead. Nothing too special in that scene. Although I did enjoy acknowledging just how driven some of our characters can get to achieve a certain goal.**

 **\- Stain is here and he's not fucking around. I really think Horikoshi hit it out of the park with him so I want to try my best to do him justice. Boy, I can't wait to write that fight.**

 **Reviews:**

 **(Holy crap there are a lot of them. I'm guessing some of the Guest accounts posted multiple reviews, but I'll address each one individually just in case.)**

 **Dracus6- I'm still not taking requests.**

 **1jesus- I'm glad you liked the chapter!**

 **Trey Alexander- I'm glad you liked Cinder and Sun's scenes, I really enjoyed writing them. I don't think an internship in the RWBY world is too out of the question, since that's basically what the Mountain Glenn arc was. As far as members of the Hunter's Guild, I won't give away anything just yet, and it will be a while before any of them show up on screen, but one of the members is a fan favorite from MHA.**

 **TenshiNoAka- I do 100% get what you're saying, those early chapters we pretty much copy-paste. However, the reason I did it wasn't laziness, but because I wanted to make sure that everyone was pretty much on the same page with what was canon for this fic and such. I do think I've written much better scenes since then tough.** **I also disagree that Izuku adds nothing to the fic and I heavily disagree that my story isn't what a crossover is supposed to be.**

 **Guest (1)- To be honest, I don't really care much about anyone on Team SSSN besides Sun himself. Sage and Scarlet have almost no screentime and maybe half a dozen lines between the two of them and they accomplish nothing storywise, so they basically have nothing interesting about them besides their character designs. Neptune does have some good moments, so he's definitely better than Sage and Scarlet, but I'm still not the biggest fan. That said, they will get some screentime next chapter, but I don't plan on making them integral parts of the story anytime soon. It would be nice to know their Semblances, but I'm not gonna wait for the book to release.**

 **Boloipi- Momo is a really fun character and one of my favorite 1-A students, however, she doesn't get a lot of screentime or development besides the Final Exams Arc and a little bit in the Joint Training Arc. We also just don't know as much about her backstory or motivations as we do about people like Deku, Bakugo, Todoroki, Iida, Uraraka, or even Mirio. I was tempted to make her and her team Beacon Students, but I didn't want to overinflate the number of Beacon Teams, so she became a Haven Student. I'm also glad you enjoyed the boardgame and villain scenes!**

 **Guest (2)- The airforce gloves were a pretty great addition to Deku's arsenal.**

 **Triton0501/Trey Alexander (2)- I had a lot of fun writing the board game scene. I'd had it planned out in my head for a while so getting to write it was a great experience for me.**

 **Askforlaw- It took me a while but I did it.**

 **Guest (3)- Jiro's singing was pretty good, though hearing a different voice sing did take me out of the experience a little bit.**

 **Guest- I did hear about Sienna's semblance. It's pretty interesting in the way it functions. However, I'm not sure how much of SiennA I'll be including in this fanfic.**

 **Guest (4)- Seeing the concert get animated was great, especially Eri's precious smile.**

 **Last time I promised my thoughts on V7 and since S4 of MHA just wrapped up, I'll give them both now.**

 **V7 had its ups and downs. It gave us Ironwood vs Watts which is probably the best fight in the whole show. Also the episode it was in, Gravity, is probably the best episode in the whole show. Seeing Watts and Tyrian do their thing was always a joy to watch. We also finally got a Renora kiss which, while I wish had happened sooner, is still welcome. However, I'm pretty lukewarm on the Election plot in the first half of the volume as well as the AceOps. I enjoyed the AceOps vs RWBY fight, and while Qrow vs Tyrian vs Clover did have some logic problems, I still enjoyed it. I'm not a huge fan of Robyn Hill though, I differently think they dropped the ball with her character. The stuff they did with Penny was ok, but I'll have to see where they go with things in V8. Overall, I'd say it's in the upper half of volumes they've made so far, and I look forward to seeing Salem destroy everything in her path with her giant pet whale.**

 **S4 of MHA was a joy to watch. I do think that some issues were made with adapting from the Manga with the Shie Hassaikai Arc, specifically with pacing and leaving out several key lines/panels which I think were important. But the Overhaul fight was amazing, especially the OST in Mirio's fight while Quirkless and the animation when Deku goes Full Cowl 100%. The Cultural Festival Arc was pretty good overall. Gentle and La Brava are both fun and well-written characters, and I think they were portrayed very well. As far as the Pro Hero Arc goes,** _ **god damn**_ **Bones went off with the animation in that fight. I loved reading that fight in the manga and it was even better watching it get animated. I wish we got to see more of the aftermath of the fight this season (something which I will not spoil), but that just means S5 will start off with just as much of a banger as this season did. I imagine we'll probably get the Joint Training Arc, the MLA Arc, and Endeavor Agency Arc next season. I wouldn't be surprised if the last episode was the very beginning of the current Arc (specifically the part with the character who first debuts in the Vigilantes SpinOff Manga). Definitely looking forward to next season.**

 **As far as what's going on in the Manga rn, I'll touch on that next chapter, as right now we're on Chapter 267 which kind of ends on a cliffhanger, so I'll wait till next time.**

 **Stay tuned!**


	14. Hunt For Your Enemy

**Before we being, I'd like to ask you guys a question:**

 **How would you feel about me making significant changes to the RWBY lore for this fanfic?**

 **I've been toying around a lot with the idea in my head, and I think I have a general idea of how I'd like to change things for this fic. This would primarily consist of alterations to the magical elements within RWBY. Namely the Relics, Maidens, Salem and Ozpin. This change would likely include some characters being cut/added into the story as necessary.**

 **Ultimately, I'm going to write the story I want to tell. This isn't me asking for permission, just your guys' opinion on the idea.**

 **I'll leave a poll up on my profile which you can answer. If you want to explain your reasoning then you can do that in the reviews, PM me, or something like that.**

 **Now on to your regularly scheduled (Ha, like I'll ever publish chapters consistently) program.**

 **I do not own RWBY nor My Hero Academia all rights belong to Monty Oum and Kohei Horikoshi and their respective publishing companies.**

 **I do not own the cover image.**

 **Chapter 14: Hunt for Your Enemy**

* * *

 _Beacon Academy, 4:30 P.M., Oobleck's Office_

"Here's the extra credit assignment you gave us last week sir," Tenya said as he handed a stack of papers to Doctor Oobleck.

"Already? I wasn't expecting to get any of these turned in for at least two more weeks." The spectacled huntsman said as he took the papers from his student.

"Always happy to exceed expectations, Professor, I-"

" _Doctor._ "

"Doctor, apologies. Doing work helps me relieve stress. My team and I have had quite a bit on our plate recently so I figured doing the assignment would help take the nerve off so to speak."

"I see. Well I'll certainly take it. I should have it graded within a day or so and hand it back to you then. Not that you really need the assignment, you got an A+ in this class last semester and I see no indication that will change."

"Maybe, but one must always strive to do their best if they are to become a great hunter."

"Well said, my boy. I'll see you next class."

"Likewise, Doctor," Tenya said as he walked out of the office. _Now that that's turned in, I'll have to go and get my gear quick. I wouldn't want the others to have to wait for me any longer than necessary._

 ***RIIIIING***

Tenya reached into his pocket as he kept walking, pulling out his Scroll. A quick glance at the screen showed a call coming from someone not in his contacts. Tenya found this odd but still brought the device up to his ear as he answered it.

"Hello?"

"Is this Tenya Iida?" An authoritative, male voice spoke. It was funny, he thought the voice sounded quite familiar.

"Who is this?"

"This is General Ironwood." That surprised Tenya quite a bit. Why would the General of the Atlesian Military and Headmaster of a Hunter Academy be calling him? The only reason would be because…

"H-Has something happened to my brother?" Tenya asked, praying that the nerves about tonight's work were just making him paranoid.

"... Your brother received severe injuries last night on patrol. We have him in the infirmary onboard my flagship along with your school's nurse. I've already notified the rest of your family back in Atlas but since you're here in Vale I can send one of my Bullheads to pick you up and bring you onto the ship."

Tenya swallowed deeply as the words reached his ears. With shaky legs he took a few steps towards the wall, placing his arm against it as a support.

"I-I'd like that, y-yes."

* * *

 _6:00 P.M., Beacon Academy, Vale CCT_

"That's weird," Ruby said as she, Weiss, Izuku, and Shoto walked to the entrance to the CCT.

"What is?" Izuku asked.

"Yang just texted saying Tenya hasn't shown up at the meetup point with her, Neptune, and Pyrrha."

"I don't Tenya's ever been late for anything in his life," Weiss said with surprise.

"They were meeting up at a park not too far away from where the airships take people to and from Beacon so I doubt he's lost," Izuku said.

"I'll try calling him, if he doesn't pick up, we can go check the dorm room after this," Shoto said as he reached into his pocket for his Scroll.

Well let's get this done quickly then, I'd rather not get distracted by anything." Weiss said.

"Ruby! Izuku! Is that you?" A familiar cheery voice called out.

"It would appear that I spoke too soon." The heiress mumbled.

"Penny?!" Ruby called out in surprise as said girl came running over towards the four of them. "Gods it's been, like, forever since we last saw you. How have you been?"

"I have been well, thank you for asking. How about yourselves?"

"We've had some ups and downs I guess, but overall it's been pretty good," Izuku said.

"That's great to hear. I must say, Beacon Academy is quite a marvelous institution. I still think I prefer Atlas Academy, but I can certainly see how Beacon has trained so many top-quality Hunters."

"Guess she wasn't lying about being from Atlas," Weiss said to herself.

"What are you up to today?" Penny asked.

"We're here to get some information from the CCT, something which I will go do while you three continue your conversation," Weiss said as she quickly strolled off towards the tower's entrance.

"Tenya didn't pick up," Shoto said as he walked closer to the remaining teens.

"He didn't? We should head back to the dorms then to-" Before Izuku could finish his sentence, his and Shoto's Scrolls went off with a message sent to Team MSKI's GroupChat.

" _I'm sorry if I worried you. I'm perfectly fine, but there was a family emergency. I'll be back at the dorm later tonight."_

"Well at least he's okay, I guess," Ruby said as she peered at the message on Shoto's Scroll.

"Family emergency?" Shoto pondered.

"You don't think…"

"Hey, Penny!" All four teens directed their attention towards the direction where Penny had come from to see three other teens jogging their way. "Don't just run off on us like that!" A female voice called out.

The female in question had dark brown eyes, fawn-colored hair, and plump, glossy lips. Her wardrobe consisted of a black catsuit which did little to hide her curvaceous figure. It had white cuffs on the wrists and white heeled knee-high boots.

Next to her was a tall, well-built man with black eyes and buzzed dark brown hair. He wore a thick burgundy suit lined with thick fur and a cape over his shoulders and white kneepads. His right arm was covered in a thick burgundy material and had a large tan glove with pipes on it. His right arm was covered only by a skintight blue sleeve connected to an undersuit. There were similar tubes to those on his left arm on his torso and ankles. Though it was covered by his cape, it was possible to see what appeared to be a jetpack system on his back with several slots for Dust left empty.

The last teen was average height with thin, slanted eyes and a straight purple fringe parted to cover his left eye which appeared fluffier in the back. He wore a black overcoat with red trimmings. Its collar stopped just below his mouth with two red-trimmed flaps folded over the top. The sleeves went down to his elbows and he wore a black apron overtop which went down past his knees. He had gloves which only covered his thumb, index and middle fingers, and black boots.

"You guys can handle introductions, I'm gonna make sure Yang knows Tenya won't be meeting up with them," Shoto said as he took several steps away and began to call RWBY's resident blonde.

"Oh, I apologize Camie. I just got distracted when I saw my friends here." Penny responded as she gestured to Ruby and Izuku.

"You have friends here at Beacon? That's so cool! As expected of our team leader!" The tall boy shouted.

 _Penny's their team leader? I know it's mean but I feel kinda bad for them._ Izuku thought to himself.

"I hope that these 'friends' of yours hold themselves to the standards us Hunters have sworn to uphold. The more I traverse this 'prestigious' institution, the more disappointed I am in those I call my constituents." The slanty-eyed boy said.

"Uhh, I'd like we think we do, I guess," Ruby said awkwardly.

"Aww, come on Seiji, don't be so extra all the time. It's not lit, fam." The girl, Camie, responded.

"Allow me to make introductions. These are the other members of my team, PIUS. This is my partner Camie Utsushimi, and our teammates Seiji Shishikura and Inasa Yoarashi." Penny said.

"It's a pleasure to meet you!" Inasa yelled with unparalleled enthusiasm.

"Always psyched to meet new people," Camie said as she held up a peace sign.

"I will pass judgment on the three of you when I deem it appropriate," Seiji said with a scoff.

"Right… well, my name's Ruby Rose, leader of Team RWBY."

"I'm Izuku Midoriya of Team MSKI."

"I had no clue Penny knew such cute friends here in Vale. When were you gonna spill the tea, boss?" Camie said as she took several steps closer to the two of them.

 _T-Too close!_ Izuku thought to himself as he began to blush. _Why would she use the word cute after just meeting us?!_

As she stood in the elevator on her way up the CCT, Weiss felt an unexplainable urge to break something.

"Sooo, what's with the matching hats?" Ruby asked as she pointed to her head. Izuku turned towards Penny's three teammates, only to realize that all three of them wore matching black, militaristic hats with a golden "S" on them, though Inasa's was covered up partially by a pair of goggles.

"All three of us are graduates from the prestigious Shiketsu Combat School in Atlas. As such, we wear these hats as a constant reminder to uphold the values it imparts upon every student given the pleasure of walking its halls!" Seiji responded with pride.

"I don't think I've ever heard of any combat school called Shikotsu," Ruby responded.

"That's impossible! It's the most renowned combat school in the entirety of Solitas! And it's pronounced Shiketsu!" Seiji yelled back.

"It is actually pretty famous. I'm pretty sure Tsunagu Hakamata went there." Izuku said.

"Indeed he did! Seeing as he ranks within the Top 5 Hunters in all of Remnant, I believe it's safe to say that Best Jeanist has done Shiketsu proud! Though he chooses not to wear our school's hat, unfortunately. I'm glad to see at least one person in this Kingdom can be considered respectable." Seiji said.

"Uh… thanks." Izuku said.

"Hey, you look pretty young. How old are you?" Camie said as she bent down slightly to get a better look at Ruby.

"Oh, yeah, I'm actually only 15," Ruby responded.

"Oh, worm? That's, like, such a coincidence. Inasa here's only 16." Camie responded as she pointed to her rather large teammate.

"What great observation skills, Camie! I had no idea there was another student let into a Hunter Academy early!" Inasa said as he turned towards Ruby.

"Yeah, heh, me neither," Ruby said with an awkward chuckle.

"We should hang out sometime. Have a party at one of our dorms. That would be, like, the most fire thing!" Camie said.

 _Is the way she's speaking some Atlesian thing?_ Both Ruby and Izuku thought.

"I just got off the phone with Yang. They're going on the move now." Shoto said as he walked over to the group.

"Oh, hey, is this hottie your friend too, Penny?" Camie asked.

"I do not recall being introduced to him, no," Penny responded.

"My name's Shoto Todoroki. I'm Izuku's teammate." Shoto responded. Inasa seemed to tense up after the half and half teen spoke, but it went unnoticed.

"Wow! A cutie and a hottie on the same team. Maybe I should've come to Beacon instead." Camie said, causing Izuku to blush even more.

As Weiss sat waiting for the files to download onto her Scroll she firmly gripped the table in front of her. _Something bad is happening somewhere…_ the Heiress thought.

"Penny! We have already been delayed several minutes by this conversation. We need to hurry to our destination now if we are to be on schedule!" Seiji said.

"Oh dear, I almost forgot about that. It was a pleasure seeing you again!" Penny said as she and her team walked away.

"You guys totes have to give me your number next time we see you!" Camie said. Inasa gave a quick look over his shoulder before walking with the rest of them.

"How did you meet that girl anyway?" Shoto asked.

"It was the first time we did detective work, actually. Kinda got overshadowed with all the Blake stuff, I guess." Ruby said.

"I don't know if I should be worried that Penny is the leader of her team or glad that it's not one of the other ones," Izuku said.

"Yeah, me neither." Ruby deadpanned.

"Let's hope Weiss found all the files we need," Shoto said.

"She's probably almost done by now, depending on what the wait time is in there. Once she comes back let's head down into the city. I wonder how the rest of our group is doing?" Ruby said.

* * *

 _7:30 P.M. Junior's Club_

"I told you I don't know!" Junior yelled at the blonde.

"'You don't know'? Quite the shitty information broker, huh?" Yang taunted. She sat down in a barstool while Junior stood behind the bar.

"I don't work _with_ him, alright? He came in and asked for a couple of my boys the night you first came in here, paid upfront, and none of them. Ever. Came. Back. You can't expect me to tell you where he is when I only ever see him in this club."

"And you haven't seen him since that night?"

"No," Junior responded coldly.

"You really are useless, ya know that?" Yang said.

"Let's not get mean spirited here. We can be civil." Pyrrha said as she stood behind Yang, trying to ease the tension.

"And besides, it's not like this Torchwick guy was the _only_ person we had questions about." A blue-haired teen standing next to them said.

The teen was Neptune Vasilias, Sun Wukong's partner on Team SSSN. He wore a white dress shirt and black tie underneath a red jacket and gray jeans with black padding. He also sported a pair of yellow-tinted goggles on his forehead.

"Ugh, _fine_. Just make it quick, you people being here makes my boys feel angsty." Junior said as he motioned behind them at his men, all of whom kept a close, nervous eye on Yang from a safe distance.

"Sorry my presence makes them feel so _Yangsty_ ," Yang said as she reached into her pocket for her Scroll. It took everything she had not to laugh at her own pun, she was too good sometimes, but she wanted to keep Junior intimidated. "We're looking for anything you have on these two guys."

Yang placed her Scroll on the bar and turned it so Junior could get a good look at two pictures on the screen. Both of them were rough sketches of Tomura Shigaraki and Kurogiri. No one took any pictures of them at the BRTC, but it turns out Izuku had gotten pretty good at sketching thanks to all his Hunter Notebooks, so he drew up an image of the Grim Legion's two known members.

Junior bent over to get a good look at the two sketches. If anyone else had been watching, it would've just looked like he was staring long and hard at the two images, trying to think if he'd seen them before.

But unfortunately for him, Pyrrha Nikos was watching.

Her years of training in combat, her four consecutive wins in the Mistral Regional Tournament, had forced her to learn how to read a person's intent and emotions through their face. Instead of seeing focus in Junior's eyes, she saw recognition, fear, and a desperate scramble to think up an acceptable answer.

"Haven't seen either of them," Junior responded as he stood back up straight.

"You're lying," Pyrrha said as she fixed her gaze on the tall man. He was startled not only by how quickly she'd spoken up but by the absolute confidence with which she spoke. "You recognize both of them." Both Yang and Neptune looked from Pyrrha towards Junior waiting for a response. Junior gulped.

"Looks like someone's gonna get their ass kicked if they don't spill," Yang said as she began to stand up.

"They came in here once, alright!" Junior said. Yang paused before sitting back down, motioning the man to continue. "It was a week or so ago. They came in and I talked with them for a little bit. The hand-mask kid was a brat and the mist man was calm. I hadn't seen or heard of them before and I haven't seen them since."

"Why did they show up here?" Yang asked.

"They were having a meeting in one of the private rooms in the back of the club, not sure about what."

"Show us the room."

"You won't find anything, we clean them after every time they get used, and we do a thorough job."

"You have any cameras in there?"

"Yeah but they paid us to delete them. Even if I had the tapes, there'd be no audio." Neptune turned towards Pyrrha.

"Can you use your telepathy powers or whatever you just did to tell if he's lying?" The teen asked.

"He isn't lying, but he's not telling everything," Pyrrha answered.

"Who did they meet with?" Yang asked.

"I'm not telling you that."

"Why not?" Yang asked as she began to stand up again.

"Because the people they met with are more powerful and dangerous than you will _ever_ be," Junior answered. Yang was taken aback slightly by his answer. The club owner leaned forward to get closer to the teens. "And if you want to keep your heads attached to your bodies, I suggest you not ask any questions about them."

Junior stood up straight and walked away, leaving the teens alone at the bar as he walked into a back room and locked the door behind him.

"Is this the kind of trouble you guys normally get into in Vale?" Neptune asked.

"That would seem to be the case, yes," Pyrrha responded.

"Come on, let's get out of here. My sister and her group are already at the meeting point so let's head there." Yang said as she stood up. "They're gonna want to hear about this."

* * *

 _8:45, Vale Industrial District, Abandoned Warehouse Sector_

Blake brought her fingers up and traced three distinct scratch marks on the side of the building which made up half on the alley she and her allies were currently standing in. She'd seen markings like these before, she'd even used Gambol Shroud to make a couple of her own. But that felt like a lifetime ago. At least, she wanted it to feel like a lifetime ago. She peaked out of the alley into an adjacent one to see a man guiding several Faunus into one of the abandoned warehouses.

"This is the place," Blake said to her three Faunus companions and she began to take her bow off.

"Seems about right, this place gives me the creeps," Mina said as she gave a look of disgust towards a rather large pile of garbage. The pink Faunus' Hunter Gear consisted of a turquoise sleeveless top underneath a purple short sleeve jacket with pouches on the side. She wore black skinny jeans held up by a purple belt. On the back of her waist was a white pouch that carried spare dust rounds. She had black fingerless gloves and black boots, each one outfitted with spouts to utilize with her Semblance. On the back of the jacket was a turquoise, triangular acid hazard sign.

"We should get going, don't wanna be late for the party," Sun said as he stretched his arms.

"We can't go in just yet," Momo said. Speaking of the panther Faunus, she too had dawned her Hunter Gear. She wore a tightfitting red sleeveless top which exposed her midriff with mesh going through the center of it and making up the collar. She wore red shorts that stopped a couple of inches above the knees with pockets on the sides and more mesh along the center and trim with a tan belt and red boots. She had light armoring along her shoulders, wrists, and at the top of her boots, all colored tan. She also wore a high collared red cape with a red gemstone at her throat. On the back of the cape in black was the infinity symbol. Lastly, she had a blue-tinted visor covering her eyes. "You'll need these first."

In Momo's outstretched hand she held four small earpieces she had created with her Semblance. "I gave these to the watcher team as well so we can communicate while we're inside without being seen."

"Nice, way to think ahead Yaomomo!" Mina said as she eagerly grabbed one of the earpieces. Sun and Blake grabbed theirs as well, each one putting it in.

"Can you guys hear us?" Blake asked as he held a finger up to the earpiece.

 _"Loud and clear, Blake. We're on the roof of one of the nearby buildings on standby."_ Jaune responded.

" _Be careful in there!"_ Ochaco said through her earpiece.

" _Don't worry, we got you covered if things head south, right Bakubro?"_

" _Quit calling me that!"_

"Alright, we're heading in," Blake said. "You created the masks, right?" Blake asked.

"I did. I apologize if they aren't exactly like the ones the Fang actually uses. I could only work off pictures I found." Momo said as he handed out White Fang masks created with her Semblance to the others before removing her visor and putting one on herself.

"Ya know, for someone who stands out as much as me, wearing a mask seems pretty pointless," Mina said.

"They weren't for hiding, they're supposed to be a symbol. Humanity chose to make monsters out of us, so we dawned the faces of monsters." Blake responded.

"That's… rather morbid." Momo said awkwardly.

"Grimm masks… kinda dark." Sun said quietly.

"So was the guy who started it," Blake said.

"It was that Adam Taurus guy, right?" Mina asked. Blake stood for a moment before walking out towards the White Fang rally.

"Let's go." The other teens looked at one another before silently following the girl.

The four of them made their way into the warehouse which served to hold the meeting. It had been almost entirely cleared out, with the center serving as a place for the members and new recruits to stand, with the two groups split into the left and right sides of the warehouse, respectively. On the opposite side of the entrance, an impromptu stage had been made with a black tarp behind it, emblazoned with a red White Fang logo. Catwalks ran throughout the entire warehouse and had at least a dozen Fang soldiers occupying them.

Currently occupying the stage was a large man with a full face Grimm mask with red accents, a massive chainsaw strapped on his back. Blake recognized him instantly. A lieutenant with the White Fang. He was one of the people who first supported the White Fang's move towards violent action. He had served more as the muscle than anything else, but he was good at his job. The last time she'd seen him was at the BRTC. Even more connections between the Fang and the Legion. How this bond had been formed so quickly in the time since she left racked her mind as she and her comrades did their best to blend into the crowd of new recruits.

"I would like to thank you all for coming tonight, especially to our new recruits. To begin, I would like to introduce to you a very special ally of ours. In this fight we've been waging for so long, he will certainly help us on our path to victory!" The lieutenant said as he motioned to the side of the stage. From said side emerged Roman Torchwick, with Neo right behind him.

As the notorious criminal took center stage, he was met with cheers and applause from the White Fang veterans, contrasted by confusion from the new recruits.

"Thank you, thank you! Please, hold your applause till the end, we have quite a bit to get through if I'm not mistaken."

"What the hell is a _human_ doing here?!" A person right in front of the four teens called out with spite.

"I'm glad you asked, deerie! Now I'll be the first to admit, humans are just the _worst_! I think that's pretty self-evident. So, I understand why all of you would want to see humanity get what it deserves, sooner rather than later." Roman spoke.

"What's he even trying to say?" Mina whispered.

"Beats me," Sun responded.

"But, before the claws come out, I'd like to make it abundantly clear that you and I are on the same side in all of this. We share the same enemy: the ones in control, the bureaucrats worldwide pulling the strings, the tyrannical governments hellbent on ruling over everything they can, those infernal Hunters who run about with their righteous ideologies, hellbent on keeping up an unjustifiable status quo! They're enemies of you and me, and I think it's high time they get taken off the thrones they built atop the corpses of people like us!" The more Torchwick spoke, the more the crowd began to agree with him, even the previously apprehensive new recruits.

"And we're gonna do that with little toys like this…" Roman stepped to the side and snapped his fingers as the black tarp dropped to the floor, revealing a horrifying sight. It was a massive armored mech, easily a story and a half tall. And it sent shivers down the spines of all four teens. "This right here is the Atlesian Paladin-290, or rather, a prototype of it. Atlas will be pumping out these bad boys like they're going out of style in the near future, and we just so happened to get our hands on a few before they hit the shelves."

"How did he get that?" Momo asked.

"I'm gonna go ahead and say through less than legitimate means."

"Yeah, no shit, Sun," Mina said.

"Now then, many of your brothers have already joined our delightful new operation in the southeast. If you'd rather work in the city then, by all means, do so. But if you're ready to fight for what you believe in, fight for what you _know_ is right, then this is the arsenal I can provide."

"We need to leave," Blake said as she took a small step backward.

"Will all new recruits, please step forward!" The lieutenant yelled, prompting the group Blake and company found themselves in to begin moving towards the stage. The teens were forced to follow the crowd as they approached close to the jaws of their enemy.

"What's the plan here?" Mina whispered harshly.

"Momo, make something that will distract them," Blake said as she attempted to remain calm.

"Anything in particular?"

"Something you can make fast."

"That big guy's staring at us," Sun said as he looked at the lieutenant, his gaze now focused in their direction as he began to step their way.

"No, just at me," Blake said nervously, discretely reaching for Gambol Shroud.

"He's not the only one," Mina said. Torchwick also had his eyes on him. He whispered something to Neo and he began to stroll over their way.

"Momo?" Blake asked.

"I've got smoke grenades at the ready."

"Our closest exit is behind us but there are guards stationed there," Mina said.

"There are windows up above that we can access if we get on the catwalk," Blake responded.

"I can get us up there," Sun responded.

"Blaaaake!" The lieutenant shouted out as he jumped off the stage and rushed towards them.

"Now!" On Blake's signal, Momo threw out several smoke grenades around them, obscuring Roman, Neo, and the lieutenant's view of them while allowing them to see within their shield of smoke.

"Hold on!" Sun yelled as he clasped his hands together. On command, four glowing yellow clones of Sun emerged around the four of them. Each one grabbed a hold of one of the teens before throwing them up onto the catwalk.

"Nifty trick!" Mina said.

"Feel free to praise me once we get out here!" Sun said as he pulled out his gunchucks.

"Watch your eyes!" Momo yelled she threw out several flashbangs, courtesy of her Semblance, into the crowd of White Fang Soldiers. They went off in midair, blinding almost all the veteran Faunus.

"Let's move!" Blake yelled as she began the charge towards the windows. Two White Fang soldiers charged at the teens with swords in hand. Blake parried one slice and used the opportunity to kick the soldier from the catwalk to the floor below. The other one went for a swing but suffered a shot in the chest courtesy of Mina. She fired two more shots from her machine pistols/daggers, Showtime and Spotlight, sending the soldier to the ground.

"We've got trouble from behind!" Sun yelled out as five other Fang members ran their way.

"Got it!" Momo yelled as she pulled out her own weapon from underneath her cloak. She used her DMR/shortsword, Tenjin, to fire several shots into the legs of three of the soldiers, bringing them down to the ground. The two she didn't hit backed away out of fear.

"Keep moving!" Blake yelled as she started running towards the windows. The other three began to follow her, though they were lagging behind slightly. Blake took several shots with Gambol Shroud, shattering the glass. "Come on!" Mina was the first one out the window, followed by Sun and Momo. As Blake was about to join them, she saw motion out of the corner of her eye on the stage. She looked to see Torchwick climbing into the Paladin's cockpit. _Shit!_ She thought. She put her hand up to her earpiece. "Guys, we need to move now! Torchwick's getting into his mech!"

" _Please tell me you did not just say Torchwick has a mech,"_ Jaune said.

" _We're on our way, just tell us where to meet up!" _Eijiro responded.

" _We're heading north right now along the rooftops!"_ Momo responded.

Before Blake could actually jump out the window, she felt a murderous presence behind her. She barely dodged a swing from the lieutenant aimed for her neck. He responded by grappling her around her waist and jumping out the window with both of them. Rather than joining her allies on the rooftops, Blake and her former ally plummeted onto concrete. The impact knocked the wind out of her, taking a large chunk out of her Aura. She felt her earpiece fall out, broken in two. She barely managed to keep a hold of her sword. The lieutenant's large figure loomed over her like the shadow of death itself. He had a firm, icy grip around her neck.

"You should know better than anyone that no one leaves the White Fang unscathed."

"Blake!" The lieutenant was forced to let go as a bullet hit him directly on the arm, courtesy of Momo. Blake used this opportunity to kick him off of her, trying to create as much distance as possible. Before her friends could offer any further assistance to her, Torchwick's Paladin erupted through the wall, heading straight for Mina, Momo, and Sun. The teens were forced to run, lest they be crushed by the Atlesian mech.

"All alone now, huh?" The lieutenant taunted as he stood up and pulled his chainsaw off his back.

"You wish, asshole!" The lieutenant lept backward to avoid a red haired teen crushing him. Eijiro's punch instead impacted the concrete, leaving a massive crack in its wake. "Stand up, Blake. We've gotta get going now!" Eijiro's outfit was rather simple. He wore no shirt, instead opting for red shoulder pads and black sleeves along his arms. He had baggy black pants, red boots, and a red ripped cape tied around his waist. He also had a belt with a large red "R" in the center. His right arm was covered with a mechanical red gauntlet that extended from his fingertips to halfway up his tricep called Relentless.

"Here." Behind her, Ochaco helped the girl up to her feet. Ochaco wore a black sleeveless t-shirt underneath a black bomber jacket. She had black pants with pink stripes along the sides and pink boots. On the back of the jacket in pink was a planet with several small moons orbiting around it. In the center of the planet was a magnet that she used to holster her weapon, Fundamental Force, was a six-foot double-edged greatsword.

"Relying on _humans_ to protect you? Pathetic."

"Aren't you guys supposed to be all about equality?" Eijiro asked.

"Humans and Faunus aren't equal. We're _better_." The lieutenant charged towards him, swinging his chainsaw down with tremendous force. Rather than block with his armored arm, Eijiro brought up his exposed left arm as a defense. The chainsaw released a boom as it collided, its blades continuously grinding at the teen's Aura. However, the blade did no damage to the teen himself. Instead, his brilliant red Aura took the impact in stride. "Not bad."

"Defense is kinda my specialty!" Eijiro shouted as he threw a punch with his right arm. The Faunus dipped to the side to avoid it before pushing hard on his weapon, launching his opponent back several feet. The teen remained standing, however, looking no worse for wear. Relentless shifted on his arm, opening up three small holes on the top along his knuckles. He pointed at the lieutenant and fired off a volley of rounds with his weapon's internal SMG. The lieutenant used his chainsaw to defend as best he could, being forced to jump back several feet.

"C'mon, Eijiro, let's move!" Ochaco yelled as she and Blake began to run away into a back alley.

"Don't have to tell me twice!" The red haired teen yelled as he followed suit.

"Don't even try running!" The lieutenant yelled as he began his pursuit. The teens managed to duck their way into the alley, their opponent a few dozen feet back. As he made his way into the alley he was caught off guard by an empty dumpster being thrown at him. It had a surprising amount of force behind it, enough to almost knock him to his feet. However, once he managed to stop his momentum, he realized something…

Dumpsters don't float.

"Have another!" Ochaco yelled as she threw another empty dumpster at her opponent, colliding with the first and forcing him back even further.

"Wow, that was so manly, Ochaco!" Eijiro cheered.

"That won't be enough," Blake said. As the words left her mouth, both dumpsters were carved in two, the sound of a chainsaw on metal echoing ominously through the alley. None of them could see the lieutenant's face, but if they could, they were pretty sure he'd look none too pleased.

He threw one of the dumpster halves back at the teens. Ochaco drew her greatsword and slashed the flying dumpster half in two, both pieces flying upwards. "Run!" She yelled as she placed her sword on her back and began booking it down the alley, her partners in tow. The lieutenant threw the rest of the floating dumpsters out of his way before charging at them. Ochaco brought the tips of her now free hands together, a pink glow emanating from each of them. "Release."

As the lieutenant began to close the distance to them he was suddenly crushed by the pieces of the dumpster, now once again a victim of gravity. His Aura flashed as he took the hit, but he slowly pulled himself up to his feet. He grabbed his chainsaw off the ground. When he looked up, the three teens were gone. With his enhanced Faunus senses there was no doubt in his mind he could've tracked them down, but going to all that trouble to find some kids wouldn't be worth it.

Besides, there's someone who he knew would rather find Blake on his own.

* * *

 _~10 Minutes Later_

"DIE!"

Katsuki's scream was accompanied by a loud boom as he dropped yet another point-blank explosive on Torchwick's mech. The Paladin's armor remained unphased, and the mech took a swing at the teen with its left arm which he barely dodged by launching himself away with an explosion.

"I don't think that's really doing much!" Mina yelled out as she circled around the mech at high speeds using her acid producing Semblance.

"Then why don't you do something?!" He responded as he dodged away from a rocket.

"Guys, I have a plan, just keep holding out until Momo's finished!" Jaune cried out.

"Will she be done before we're dead?!" Sun asked rhetorically as he and Jaune also dodged the mech's assault.

"Finger's crossed!"

"Oh, what a brilliant strategy!" Katsuki retorted as he used his gauntlet to fire off a ranged attack of Fire Dust.

"Mina, can you spray acid up into its left arm and its core?" Jaune asked.

"Yeah, but I'll need a good distraction!"

"Leave that to me and Bakubro! Jaune, shield me as best you can!" Sun called out as he clasped his hands and created four new clones of himself.

"You're not allowed to call me that either, bastard!" Katsuki called out as he charged the mech alongside the clones. Mina quickly fell in behind their assault, crouching down in an attempt to keep a low profile.

The first two clones jumped at the mech's cockpit, aiming to distract Torchwick. A quick swing of the mech's arm took them out. The third clone went low while the last two went high again. The mech simply rushed forward, all three clones dissipating upon impact. Katsuki used an explosion to launch himself up above the mech. Torchwick brought up the paladin's left arm, planning to shoot him midair. However, said arm refused to move. He looked to his left to see that the Paladin's arm was covered in Mina's acid, especially at the joints, leaving the arm immobile.

"Gotcha now, eyeliner!" Katsuki yelled as he launched himself down with tremendous force towards the mech. Before Torchwick could attempt to move his other arm, Katsuki was already upon him. He launched an explosion from both hands concentrated right on the joint connecting the left arm to the mech. The explosion blew the arm off completely and launched Katsuki back towards Sun and Jaune.

"Nice work, dude!" Sun said.

"I've only got one more of those left in me," Katsuki responded through gritted teeth, his Aura flaring due to overexerting it.

"We just have to hold out a little bit-"

 ***BOOOOM***

Suddenly an explosion from their left shook the ground so much they almost lost their footing. When they looked up at the mech, they saw that the top and bottom halves had been completely separated, with the top half now on the concrete floor beneath Vale's highway system.

"What was that?" Sun asked.

"Sorry I took so long!" They all looked over to the side to see Momo standing next to a cannon with a smoking barrel.

"I like your style, Ponytail!" Katsuki said.

"It's not over!" Jaune called out as he saw a dazed Torchwick begin to crawl out of the mech's cockpit.

"Stupid piece of junk!" Torchwick yelled as he stood up on his feet.

"Don't move!" Mina yelled out as she aimed Showtime and Spotlight at the career criminal.

"Ugh, sorry, Pinky, but I'd rather not go to jail. You kiddies won the day so go back to your school and celebrate." Roman grumbled as he hopped off the mech's corpse.

"You asked for it." Mina said as she fired several shots at Torchwick, only for the man to shatter into glass.

"Huh?"

"Oh, not this bitch again!" Katsuki yelled out. Behind them they heard the sound of a Bullhead taking off. The teens turned to see said Bullhead carrying away an injured Torchwick and his partner in crime, Neo, who gave a smug wave as the ship's doors closed.

"Do they _always_ escape like that?" Sun asked exasperatedly.

"More often than we'd like to admit," Jaune said disgruntled.

"Hey, don't be a bunch of Debbie Downers! Sure he got away but we ended up destroying his big fancy mech in the process. That's still a win in my book." Mina said, trying her best to cheer the boys up.

"I guess. Doesn't make it sting any less though." Sun responded.

"Wait, Blake and the others!" Jaune yelled out as he put a hand up to his earpiece. "Are you guys there?! Are you ok?!"

" _Yeah… we're good on our end."_ Kirishima responded through heavy breathing. " _We lost the big guy who was chasing us a ways back but we kept running just to be safe. How about you guys?"_

"The mech's destroyed but Torchwick escaped."

" _Damn. Guess we'll have to get that bastard the next time, huh?"_

"We will. We'll probably be a little late to the meetup, I'm guessing there are police on the way who will have more than a few questions." Jaune responded.

" _Gotch, we'll see you then."_

"That was an excellent plan, Jaune," Momo said as she walked over to join them.

"You came up with the cannon idea all by yourself?!" Sun asked with shock.

"W-Well I mean, uhh, kinda? I asked Momo if she could make something with the firepower to hurt that thing and she said yes. From there it was just a matter of buying time. B-But that's basic stuff, anyone could've done that." Jaune responded.

"Don't forget about the plan for me to cover it in acid. How'd you know that I should go for the left arm and core?" Mina asked.

"Well, the core was pretty obvious since I figured Momo would probably aim for its center of mass. While I was watching I saw that he favored using that left arm to swing Katsuki away when he went for an attack so I figured that would be the one to aim for."

"Dude, that's like… _way_ more impressive than you're making it out to be." Sun said.

"Not bad, Hoodie," Bakugo mumbled. Jaune had to think for a second to make sure he heard that right. Katsuki Bakugo _complimented him_?!

"Aww, he _can_ be nice," Mina said.

"Never thought I'd see the day." Sun agreed.

"Shut up or I'll kill both of you! And you better can it with that 'Bakubro" crap! Having shitty hair call me that is bad enough!" Sun simply put up his hands defensively, a shit-eating grin on his face, while Mina doubled over laughing.

Jaune smiled to himself as he watched his friends laugh and argue.

 _I really do deserve to stand with them, huh?_

* * *

 _9:15 P.M., General Ironwood's Flagship_

Tenya had been staring at the same spot on the opposite wall for at least an hour now. It wasn't possible. It shouldn't have been possible. Tensei Iida. Ingenium. His brother. He was one of the best Huntsmen in all of Atlas. His team had graduated top of their class. He'd barely gotten as much as a scratch on his previous missions.

He was supposed to be the best. He was supposed to be perfect.

But now, as he sat on a bench outside the intensive care unit, the truth had finally forced its way into Tenya's heart.

His brother lost. Badly.

He'd been waiting to see his brother for hours upon hours. They told him that his brother was alive, but they still hadn't told him how badly he was hurt. "Severe injuries"? How the hell was he supposed to be satisfied with that? How severe were they?

Burns? Abrasions? Stab wounds? Brain damage? Lost limbs? He needed to know. He needed to know right-

"You're Tenya, correct?" The teen was brought out of his thoughts by the voice next to him. He turned to his right to see General Ironwood sitting next to him on the bench. How the hell hadn't he noticed him? There was a serious look in those blue eyes of his which stared straight into Tenya's.

"Y-Yes."

"I'm… sorry about what's happened to your brother. He's a good man, something I'm sure you're already aware of. I'd hoped that sending him to lead the investigation on this matter would lead to success. It would appear that I put too great a burden on his shoulders alone. I apologize for that."

"N-No, t-there's no need to apologize. My brother knew the risks… the risks of being a Hunter. He chose to do this to help people."

"That's quite the mature thing to say, especially in a situation like this. I see your brother's ideals have rubbed off on you."

"I'd like to think that as well, I guess," Tenya said with a sigh. "General, if you don't mind me asking… how did my brother get these injuries?"

"That's… well, it was _supposed_ to be classified, but from what some of my men have told me, there have already been rumors spreading through Vale about his presence, so I suppose there's no need to lie to you."

"Who's presence?"

"Stain." That name alone sent a chill down Tenya's spine. For the past few months, Stain had been on a killing spree, his targets exclusively being Hunters. According to some, his career as a murderer started in Mistral, but no one knew who he was until he came to Atlas. He'd put seventeen Hunters out of commission and killed five others, including one Atlesian specialist.

"He's here? I-In Vale?"

"That would appear to be the case. I don't know why he's come here, but I suspect my being here, along with international attention with the upcoming Vytal Festival, to be the reason."

"Excuse me." Both men turned to Tenya's left to see a doctor standing in front of them with a surgical mask on. "We've managed to stabilize him. We're willing to let in visitors for a short while."

Without a second thought, Tenya rushed into the room. The sight which greeted him almost brought him to his knees. His brother had bandages covering the top of his head and a respirator. His upper body was exposed, showing that they had just finished giving him an extensive amount of stitches.

"Your brother suffered damage to his spine and nervous system." Tenya managed to tear his eyes away from his brother to see professor Peach standing on the other side of the hospital bed. "Even with my Semblance, there's only so much that can be done. Even if he got cybernetic implants, I'm unsure if he'll ever be able to walk again."

Tenya took several slow steps to the bed, placing his hands on the rails. Tears flowed like a river from his eyes as he looked at his brother's face.

 _Tensei… I promise you… I will make this right. I will stop him!_

* * *

 _2:00 A.M., Downtown Vale_

"You Atlesians. You can't even see the hypocrisy directly in front of you." Stain said as he stared down Ironwood's ships above Beacon from a rooftop in Vale. "But I'll show you all just how blind you really are."

"You're Stain, correct?" Upon feeling the presence behind him and hearing those words, Stain drew Culling Force and slashed behind him, only to feel his blade impact nothing. He turned around to see his katana had passed through a cloud of purple mist with ominous yellow eyes. "There's no need for a fight. I can assure you we're on the same side." Kurogiri said.

"Tell me, would you be willing to grant the Grim Legion a moment of your time?"

* * *

 **A/N**

 **Another chapter in the books.**

 **Chapter Commentary:**

 **\- Sorry if anyone was thinking I was gonna write out the Tensei fight. I'm taking the same approach as canon where you figure out Stain's fighting style/powerset at the same time that the MCs do. However, in adapting Stain into this fanfic his Semblance and Quirk are** _ **not**_ **identical. They are similar in what they accomplish, that being paralysis, but the way in which they do it is different. I'm not sure if his Semblance or Quirk is better, so I'll just leave deciding that to you guys.**

 **-Team PIUS is so much fun to write. They're all a bunch of numbskulls and I love them for it. They're also the first composite team between RWBY and MHA, so that kinda changes things up. Initially, I was going to have the team be called Team SPCY, but I figured there was no chance in hell Ironwood would let Seiji be the leader, so the buck gets passed to Penny. Pius isn't a color itself, but it means a saint, and there have been many Pope Piuses throughout history, so the color they invoke is white. I didn't make any alterations to the Shiketsu kids' costumes as they fit pretty well within the RWBY style of costumes, though to a lesser extent with Camie.**

 **\- Momo's outfit for this fic is a mix of the cape she gets in the Joint Training Arc and an artist named Ohkoh's redesign of Momo's hero costume. There's a chance you've seen their art before, they've done redesigns for other 1-A students before. You can find them on Tumblr under the name Ohkoh.**

 **\- Again, I must give credit to CelticPheonix's Fixing RWBY series for some of what I wrote in this chapter. Specifically, the lieutenant calling out Blake's name and her and Sun jumping up onto the catwalk during the White Fang rally. His stuff is still good and I still recommend it.**

 **\- Tenjin, Momo's weapon, is named after the Japanese god of learning and scholarship. Figured that was an appropriate name for the weapon of Class 1-A's best girl.**

 **\- A while ago I mentioned finding Ochaco's weapon funny, and now you get to see why. The idea of the tiny Uraraka with a giant greatsword is both hilarious and seems like something she would actually do in canon.**

 **-I decided on the pairings for the investigation so that I could show off the newer characters as well as give Jaune and Pyrrha some much needed time in the sun. I was going to add in Nora, Ren, Sage, and Scarlet into this chapter, but with the number of characters it was already bloated so I ended up cutting it. Hopefully you liked the changes.**

 **One thing I've neglected to mention in any of these A/N sections is height changes. Since the MHA characters have been aged up, I gave them a height boost. They are taller, but I tried to keep their sizes the same relative to other characters if that makes sense.**

 **Izuku 5'5¼" - 5'7"**

 **Bakugo 5'8 ¾" - 5'9½"**

 **Shoto 5'9 ¼" - 5'11"**

 **Iida 5'10½" - 6'2"**

 **Momo 5'8"- 5'9"**

 **Uraraka 5'1½" - 5'3"**

 **Kirishima 5'7" - 5'8"**

 **Mina 5'3" - 5'5"**

 **Camie 5'3" - 5'5"**

 **Seiji 5'7½" - 5'8"**

 **Inasa 6'2.8" - 6'5"**

 **Reviews:**

 **Askforlaw- Nice**

 **1jesus- Thanks!**

 **Cinderella Girl626- Honestly, I hadn't really given much thought to adapting the movies into this fic until you brought it up. I may incorporate certain characters in, namely Melissa Shield from the first movie, Katsuma and Mahoro from the second movie. Maybe,** _ **maybe**_ **I could find a place for Nine, but I wouldn't hold your breath for seeing him.**

 **Guest 1 (Ch 13 Review)- Same answer as the above.**

 **Guest 2 (Ch 1 Review)- *Laughs in future plot points***

 **Earl John Diawatan- Glad you're enjoying things so far! Who knows, maybe I'll give Mineta a cameo at some point for shits and giggles. I'm sure the RWBY girls would have a field day beating the shit out of him.**

 **Triton0501- Sorry if the lack of a written out Tensei vs Stain upset you, it kinda seemed like you were expecting it based on your comment. Don't expect too much interaction between Stain and the White Fang, I don't plan on having them meet.**

 **Guest 3 (Ch 13 Review)- Hope you enjoyed!**

 **13thRebels- Trust me, you'll see quite a bit of Cinder and Tomura interacting with each other in the future!**

 **Guest 4 (Ch 13 Review)- Much like who built the pyramids and who really shot JFK, the world may never know where Izuku keeps all his notebooks.**

 **Guest 5 (Ch 13 Review) V7 is a long way off, but I'm glad you're excited. Characters like Robyn and the AceOps will still be there, but I'll give them quite a few changes I'm sure.**

 **Guest 6 (Ch 13 Review)- OfA's evolution is something I'm thinking about too! I definitely want to have him interact with the previous wielders a bit more than he has so far in canon. Not like they'll be voices in his head guiding him through every fight, but enough that there can be some neat interaction.**

 **Guest 7 (Ch 13 Review)- Gran Torino and All Might are gonna be a lot of fun to write. Expect to see more interaction between them earlier on.**

 **SlothDGod- Yeah, I totally get what you're talking about with sticking to canon, but I'm glad you're still reading! Hopefully as you've read through more you've enjoyed what I've done with Tomura so far, at least enough that you agree with my inclusion of him. I plan on having some cool interactions with him and the RWBY villains as the fic continues, so I hope you stick around!**

 **That's all for now. Remember to leave your vote in the poll and to stay safe out there!**


	15. Plans For the Future

**Welcome back folks! Hopefully things have been going as well as they can in this quarantined world of ours.**

 **A lot has been happening in the world of Shonen Manga. On the MHA side of things, Chapter 272 just dropped and hot damn what a chapter! I'm super excited for the future of the series!**

 **In addition, the anime that broke the internet and outsold One Piece, Demon Slayer, just published its last chapter, Chapter 205. I picked up the show as it was airing and then read the manga around December. It was a really fun read and it had some cool characters. That said, if you haven't read the manga and think you can avoid/don't care about spoilers, I recommend just waiting for the anime to finish. If it maintains the quality of the first season, it will be the overall better experience. As far as my thoughts on the series, it had good characters, but it had a lot of problems with world-building (or lack thereof) as well as pacing issues.**

 **Now let's get things started!**

 **I do not own RWBY nor My Hero Academia all rights belong to Monty Oum and Kohei Horikoshi and their respective publishing companies.**

 **I do not own the cover image.**

 **Chapter 15: Plans for the Future**

* * *

 _Unknown Bar, Vale, 2:01 A.M._

Claustrophobia was the first thing that came to Stain's mind as he was warped into the Grim Legion's Bar. Maybe it was the fact that the bar itself was small, sporting only five chairs and a short distance between the walls. Maybe it was the fact that the exit behind him was heavily reinforced and likely wouldn't open while the other door only led further into the building, and both of the bar's other inhabitants were in between him and said door.

Or maybe it was the person he was staring down right now. He could just barely see those red eyes of his thanks to the hand-mask he was wearing. He could see the bloodlust within them. It sent off alarms in his brain. Ironic how those eyes were the same color as his.

"First things first. How did you find me?" He asked with a cold tone.

"Starting off hostile, huh? I learned about you being in the Kingdom from a certain criminal quite famous within the city. He told me about when and where you'd been rumored to have gone. From there it was just a matter of patiently searching. I'll be happy to tell you exactly who the criminal was, but only after we talk some more. My name is Tomura Shigaraki, and this is my associate Kurogiri. We're the Grim Legion."

"If my memory serves me right I've heard that name before. Rumor has it you lead an attack against Beacon that the school and the Kingdom are trying to cover up."

"I'm glad our reputation precedes us."

"So we know each other. Now, why exactly did you bring me here?"

"Simple. We've been looking at expanding our party recently. We figured someone with a skillset such as yours would find themselves right at home in our crew. When it comes to killing Hunters, you seem to be a pro."

"I only kill Atlas' dogs. They're the ones deserving of death."

"I guess I can see that, Atlas is pretty shitty. Rampant racism, massive corporations, a giant domineering military, I can see why you hate it. Mostly because I hate it too."

"Is that right?"

"Oh come on, why would I lie to you if I'm trying to make friends here? I can't stand those Atlesian bastards any more than you!" Stain's stare intensified.

"What're you after, exactly?"

"If I'm being honest, I wanna destroy everything I don't like. Atlas would be on that list, but it's hardly the only one. Like those Beacon Academy brats, for example. Eventually, I wanna kill All Might too. I'll destroy it all!" Tomura responded, almost giddy at the thought.

Stain glared at Tomura. "I should've known coming here was a mistake. You're the type I hate the most in this world."

"What?" Stain began to draw two of his knives from his side.

"To begin with I'd never team up with a tantrum-throwing child. Bloodlust without conviction is pointless! And secondly…

"I'd never team up with someone with the goal of killing a Hunter like All Might!"

* * *

 _Ozpin's Office, 7:00 A.M._

"Why the hell haven't you found him already?!"

Ozpin flinched as a hand was slammed on his deck. The headmaster closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Gods how he hated dealing with bureaucrats.

"Councilman Caligula I can assure you that both Headmaster Ozpin and I are doing everything in our power to find Stain and-"

"I'm not talking to you, Ironwood!" The councilman retorted. Gaius Caligula was a tall man with short brown hair and golden brown eyes. He wore a gray suit with a black tie and a pin with a green Crest of Vale on the lapel. He was one of the longest-reigning members of the Vale council, very popular amongst the elite of the kingdom, and he was not known for having a good temper. "Ozpin I give you and your Hunters all the freedom in the world. All I ask in return is that you people do your damn job! And now there's a serial killer running around in the streets of _my_ city! Do you know how much the press is going to run this story? I will not have my reputation ran through the mud over your people not doing their fucking job."

"I do believe that the presence of a serial killer puts much more at risk than your reputation, councilman. And I would like to remind you that while I am Beacon's Headmaster, I cannot order every Hunter within the Kingdom to take whatever missions I want. I can only do that for the faculty and students of this academy."

"Well, you've got All Might then, don't you? Send him to find the freak!"

"Detective work isn't exactly his forte, unfortunately. Besides, All Might has more important work to do within Vale. However, if you do want someone who specializes in cases such as these, I suggest you and the other members of the council contact the Hunter's Guild and ask for a specialist."

Caligula grit his teeth. "The Vytal Festival is coming up. I will not allow for Vale to look incompetent because it has to call in outside help to solve a problem, especially one that Atlas couldn't solve." Ironwood's grimace hardened.

"Then perhaps you should try to solve the matter yourself. I'm sure with your wealth you could pay for multiple Hunters to do the job. It would likely cost you quite a bit, seeing as Stain's name alone makes most Hunters quite wary, but I'm sure you could find the funds. Or, you could use some of the Hunters you employ as your personal guard and have them handle the matter."

"You listen here you son of a-"

 ***DING***

All three men turned towards the office's elevator as its doors opened. All Might stood there, looking a little cramped in his enlarged form, alongside Caligula's personal assistant, a short young female Faunus with dog ears who looked quite nervous.

"M-Mr. Caligula, sir, if you are to be on time for today's press conference you must leave for the city now." She spoke. The councilman narrowed his eyes as she spoke.

"Damn media." He muttered. "Very well. We shall leave then. This conversation is not over, Ozpin."

"Believe me, I know." The councilman begrudgingly took All Might's place in the elevator, giving Ozpin one last cold glare as he and his assistant began the ride towards the base of Beacon Tower.

"If these are the type of people you had to deal with, I don't blame you for revoking your seat on the council," Ironwood said.

"Would you believe me if I told you he used to be worse?"

"Heh, if that's the case then you have my sympathies."

" **I think I'll refrain from asking how that we** nt down." All Might said as he shifted back into his normal form with a puff of smoke. "So, what am I needed for this time, Oz?" He asked. The headmaster responded with a grin.

"Thank you for coming up here so promptly. This job involves both you and your successor."

"Young Midoriya? What, are you asking me to take him on a mission?"

"Of sorts." Ozpin pressed a button on his desk and a screen was projected into the air above it, showing a message from an old friend he'd received a few days ago. As All Might read the message, his eyes began to widen and his legs began to shake.

"Please tell me this is a joke."

* * *

 _Airdocks, Beacon Academy, 8:00 A.M._

Izuku's foot tapped impatiently as he sat on a bench waiting for his teammate's return. Despite his text the previous day, he ended up spending the night on Ironwood's Flagship, hoping his brother would wake up.

The young leader hadn't gotten much sleep the night before. The combination of his friends fighting Torchwick and the White Fang without him was enough on its own, but then learning that Tensei had almost been killed fighting Stain made things exponentially worse. Even though he'd only known Tensei personally for barely more than a week, he'd helped him and his team improve a lot. He always greeted them with a kind smile and never looked down on them. Knowing someone like that had been on death's doorsteps left him shaken. Add on the fact that it was his friend's brother and then…

"Quit being so antsy ya damn nerd. You're gonna make us nervous too." Izuku was taken from his thoughts as his partner barked at him from a few feet away, occupying his own bench.

"S-Sorry, Kacchan," Izuku said. He took a deep breath, trying to compose himself.

"I kinda feel bad for having just the three of us show up. I'm guessing RWBY and JNPR will want to see him too." Shoto said as he sat next to Izuku.

"They'll get their turn I'm sure. Besides, I don't think four eyes is the kinda guy who'd wanna make a big deal out of this." Katsuki said.

"Knowing Tenya, he'll probably apologize to Yang, Pyrrha, and Neptune for not being there with them yesterday," Izuku said.

"Still can't believe he got taken down. And by one guy too." Katsuki said.

"I looked up what I could about Stain. He was rumored to have been in Mistral before he went to Atlas. Do you know anything about that, Shoto?"

"No, sorry. There had been rumors about someone targeting Hunters, but there have been cartels and gangs in Mistral that've done the same. Nobody realized it was just one guy doing it until he went to Atlas, and no one knows how many people he really killed in Mistral."

"It's scary knowing that he's managed to get away with so much despite operating in the kingdom with the strongest standing army," Izuku said.

"I'm sure we'll have plenty of time to think about it, but not now," Katsuki said as he turned towards a Bullhead with the Atlas insignia landing nearby. The three boys steeled whatever nerves they had and walked over towards the ship. By the time they reached it, Tenya had already stepped out. He was still dressed in his school uniform from the day before. His hair looked off, as though he'd desperately tried to make it look normal at the last minute. One look at his eyes told his teammates that the teen hadn't slept well either.

"Hey, Tenya," Izuku said as the teen walked up to the three of them.

"Good morning. Sorry for making you come all the way out here. I'd feel sorry if I made you three late for Professor Aizawa's class." Tenya said with a grin. They could tell it was forced.

"Ozpin gave our whole team the day off, and you're excused from classes for three days," Shoto said. Tenya looked surprised

"I'll have to send him my thanks but that won't be necessary. I'd rather get back to classes as soon as possible."

"Don't push do something stupid," Katsuki said.

"Please, there's no need to worry. I wouldn't want to see the rest of you falling behind because of me. How did last night go? I'll have to issue Ms. Xiao Long, Ms. Nikos, and Mr. Va-"

"Tenya, please." Izuku interrupted, causing Tenya to be taken aback. "Everyone knows that you wish you could've been there with us last night. You don't need to apologize."

"If you don't wanna take all three days off that's fine, but I'll kick your ass if you try going to any classes today," Katsuki said.

"Please, let's just take the day off," Izuku concluded. Tenya looked at each of them in the eyes, confirming just how serious they were. He sighed.

"Ok. We can all go back together tomorrow."

"Thank you, Tenya," Izuku said as he too sighed.

"We're here for you whenever you need us," Shoto said.

"C'mon. It's a little late for breakfast but I'm sure we can find something." Katsuki said as he motioned towards the cafeteria. As the four of them walked, Tenya kept his head angled down. A day of rest was a small victory on the road ahead of them.

* * *

 _Two Days Later, 7:00 P.M., Beacon Academy Library_

"I swear Oobleck gives out way more work than any of the teachers back at Haven," Mina said as he put her head against the table.

"I should go back to Mistral with you guys then," Ruby said.

"I don't think they can fit an 'R' anywhere in MAKO or SSSN," Jaune responded.

"Drat."

"Hey, focus you three! Study sessions are meant for studying, you know."

"Hey, look, the old Weiss is back!" Nora said with a laugh.

"Be quiet, you." Indeed, the students were having a group study session huddled around one massive table within Beacon's Library. On one side were Izuku, Weiss and Momo, the tutors, and on the other were Mina, Nora, Ruby, Eijiro, Jaune, and Ochaco, the ones being tutored.

"How's Tenya been? He hasn't really talked much with us since the first class we saw him in." Ruby asked.

"We've been trying to get him to talk about it, but we haven't gotten anywhere, we don't want to push him. He's trying to get back to normal but… Kacchan, Shoto, and I can tell it's just an act. You guys wouldn't happen to have any ideas, would you?"

"No clue. I don't think any of us have been in Tenya's situation." Jaune said.

"Has there been any word on when his brother will wake up?" Ochaco asked.

"They're hoping it'll be within the next few days. But they're taking him back to Atlas tomorrow so I don't think he'll get a chance to talk to him before then."

"I was worried that would happen.' Momo said as she sulked.

"I'm afraid there's nothing that we can really do. People go through this stuff differently." Weiss said.

"We all just have to be there for him." Jaune agreed.

"Yeah. I just hope he'll talk to us about it before… well, before something even worse happens." Izuku said.

For a few moments, silence hung over the table like an unrelenting void.

"Screw feeling all down in the dumps! We can help him _and_ have fun at the same time!" Nora said. "Now, let's get back to talking about Agrava!"

"It's pronounced Agartha."

"That too!"

Nora's antics elicited a laugh from the rest of the group, even Weiss, though she tried to hold it back.

It was nice to have people like Nora around.

"Ugh, how are we supposed to have fun if we aren't even studying anything cool right now! This stuff was, like, centuries ago!" Ruby groaned.

"Dust was discovered centuries ago, but we still use it everyday," Izuku responded.

"Yeah, but Dust is at least a little interesting," Mina said.

"Well, I for one happen to think ancient history can be very interesting." Weiss huffed out. Izuku and Momo both nodded in agreement.

"Dorks," Nora said.

"Can we _pleeeease_ focus? I don't wanna make a bad impression on a teacher by flunking the first test." Ochaco said.

"Yeah, I'm with Ochaco on this one," Eijiro said.

"Glad to see at least you two are representing our team well," Momo said, earning a playful frown from Mina. "Now then, if you're all done with the practice questions, we can go over the answers. What did you guys get for the first multiple-choice question?"

"B""A""C""D""E""Seven."

"Oh dear," Momo said.

"You guys know he's giving out a multiple-choice section along with the essay on the first test because he wants to go easy on us, right?"

"Don't remind us," Jaune responded with a sigh at Weiss' words.

"Alright, let's go over this one. The correct answer was 'D', so good job Eijiro." The teen did a fist pump in response. "The question was 'The downfall of the first major civilization, Agartha, can be attributed to what?'. Eijiro, explain why D was right." Weiss said.

"Well, I remember Professor Oobleck mentioning infighting a lot earlier on in the year, so I figured D was a possibility based on that. From there I just kinda eliminated the answers that didn't make sense."

"Fair enough, but let's explain it a bit more. While we don't have access to many records of that time, most historians cite infighting as a major reason for why Agartha fell into ruin. The royal family which had ruled for centuries had ended up divided due to disputes over succession. This eventually led to a civil war which allowed the Grimm to break through the once strong defenses the Kingdom had. The capital was overrun and destroyed approximately 430 years before the Great War. It's estimated that over two-thirds of the population was killed in just over a two month period, with three-fourths dying within a year. The survivors split off to find safe haven in other parts of the world. That led to the formation of the Four Kingdoms several hundred years later. Since then, Asura, the continent Agartha once stood on has never had a long term settlement." Izuku said.

"Don't some people claim they could run their entire Kingdom for a year off of the power one house uses in a week?" Jaune asked.

"Those claims have grown increasingly popular over the years, but there hasn't been any definitive proof. Another cause is said to be that they ran out of whatever resources they had been using, as they reportedly never looked for such things anywhere outside of Asura." Momo said.

"Why don't they just go there and have a look for themselves? If no one's lived there since, everything should still be there, right?" Nora asked.

"People have. There have been numerous expedition teams with the goal of researching Agartha. However, the entirety of Asura is said to be overrun by Grimm. Of the few survivors who have returned, almost all of them came back insane." Weiss said.

"Yeah, even the Hunter's Guild openly refuses to go there, and they aren't open about anything," Izuku said.

"With how much everyone talks up how strong they were I'm surprised they fell in the first place," Ochaco said.

"It's almost like it happened overnight," Ruby said.

"Indeed. Alright, on to the next question…"

* * *

 _Two Days Later, Vale Residential Area_

"You still haven't explained where we're going."

"I've been trying my best not to, Young Midoriya."

"Why not?"

"Because if I don't say it I can pretend it isn't real."

Izuku and All Might strolled casually down the streets of Vale, marching towards a destination only one of them knew. Several days ago, All Might had told Izuku that they would be heading down into the city and that he should bring his combat gear. Thus, Izuku strolled down the streets with all his gear. His Peacekeepers were on, though they weren't loaded. He also had a backpack with a first aid kit and spare clothes in case his gear got damaged. All Might, in contrast, wore black pants and a jacket with his suit's design on it, though he was in his true form as a way to disguise himself from the public.

"Is this really that bad?"

"Somehow I always knew this day would come. I just never wanted it to."

"W-What, d-did someone die?"

"Worse."

"M-Multiple people died?"

"Even worse."

"Well then what is it?!"

"We're… w-we're… we're going toseemyoldmen…"

"I'm sorry but could you repeat that? Y-You kinda mumbled."

"We're goingtoseemyoldmentor."

"One more ti-"

"We're going to see my old mentor, alright!" All Might screamed loud enough to catch the attention of multiple pedestrians. He ducked his head down in embarrassment as the two continued their walk.

"Your old mentor? I thought you told me that it was a bad idea last week. You called it 'drastic measures'."

"I did. But Ozpin isn't satisfied with your progress with One For All. Don't take it as an insult or anything, kid, you've grown a long way since when we first met. Hell, your progress in hand to hand combat puts most of your peers to shame. You might even give Miss Xiao Long a run for her money come your third year."

"You really think so?" Izuku asked in surprise.

"I do. However, you still need to be able to wield your Semblance effectively if you want a chance to stand with the best of the best, let alone take the Number One spot. Since I haven't been able to get you that far, Ozpin wants to involve the man who helped train me."

"I guess that makes sense. I don't think I even know anything about the guy. Never could find the information online or anything."

"Not surprising, seeing as he's from the last generation of Hunters. Plus, Gran Torino's pretty old school, doesn't like the spotlight. As you can see right here." All Might motioned to a building to their left. It was a four-story apartment building that could generously be described as run down. It had several broken windows and was falling apart in multiple places, including the welcome sign above the main entrance.

"This is his apartment? It looks like it hasn't been lived in for years."

"That it does. Hopefully Oz just sent us here on a prank."

"Has Professor Ozpin ever pulled a prank before?"

"He has, but they were never particularly funny. They were all some weird attempts at teaching people a lesson, but they were hardly effective."

"Huh. Well, let's head inside I guess," Izuku said as he walked up the steps towards the door.

"Right behind ya." Izuku was on the second to last step when he realized he could only hear himself walking. He turned around to see All Might standing stock still at the bottom of the steps.

"Is something wrong?"

"It appears I have been paralyzed with fear. You'll have to go on without me." Izuku sighed before walking down and dragging All Might up the steps.

"He can't be that bad, All Might. He must have a soft spot for you, right?"

"I doubt he'll have a friendly disposition seeing as he's basically been called out of retirement cause I couldn't train you on my own." Izuku slowly opened the door to the apartment.

"Hello? Is anybody here?"

"Oh Gods he's probably going to pull some sneak attack." Izuku sighed as he tried his best to ignore his mentor's words. Honestly, he was the Number One Hunter in all of Remnant, probably in all of _history_ , this guy couldn't be _that_ scary. He glanced around the room. It was pretty modest, only having a couch, table, and a few chairs, with a bookshelf on the far wall. Paper had been stuck up in several different places along the wall. All of this was illuminated by a chandelier overhead.

However, his attention was quickly brought to the floor directly in front of him. A short, gray-haired old man lied face down on the tiled floor. A floor that was covered in blood and what appeared to be the man's innards. He was looking at a dead body.

"AHHHHHHH, HE'S DEAD!" The corpse's head popped up instantly.

"I'm alive!"

"AHHHHHHH, HE'S ALIVE!" The old man, Gran Torino, stood up with the help of his cane and wiped himself off, his rather large yellow boots clanging against the ground.

"Clumsy ol' me slipping and falling down with my ketchup-covered sausage links. And who're you?!"

"I'm Izuku Midoriya. I'm here from Beacon Academy with-"

"What?"

"My name is Izuku Midoriya!"

"Who're you?"

"... Is he normally like this?"

"Don't be fooled, Young Midoriya." Izuku turned around to see All Might hiding behind the door, only poking his head out to get a look at the situation.

"'Don't be fooled'?"

"Ugh, so Ozpin sent you here with the kid, huh Toshi? You've robbed me of my fun." Izuku whipped back around to see the look of disappointment on Gran Torino's face, his black mask highlighting his brown eyes as he stared at All Might.

"I-In that case why don't I get out of your hair?! I-I'll let you get to know Young Midoriya one on one while I go anywhere but here!"

"Oh no you don't!" Gran Torino quickly zipped past Izuku in a gust of wind before zipping once again in the other direction. Before Izuku knew what had happened, his mentor had been dragged into the room by the old man. "Despite your evidently lackluster ability to train your pupil you are still the only other person in Remnant who's ever wielded One For All so you should be at least a little helpful. Besides, it's been too long since we've last chatted. Would've it've killed ya to stop by even once after you set up shop here in Vale?"

"Oh Gods the lectures, it's all coming back!"

"W-Wait, what just happened?! You were some sort, senile old man, half a second ago?"

"Don't worry about it kid. Now, get ready to spar. I wanna see what I'm working with."

"Right here?"

"You should stop asking questions and come at me, ya newbie!"

"Gods have mercy on you, Young Midoriya."

* * *

 _That Evening, Beacon Academy Library_

It had been quite the task for Tenya to slip away into the library. His friends had been keeping an eye on him for the last few days, making sure to ask him if he was ok every time they saw him. It was nice to know that they had his back like that, and he truly was grateful for their presence.

But as far as he was concerned, that changed nothing.

So that was why he was here, tucked away into a computer terminal in the corner of the school library. He had to turn down a movie night with his own team and RWBY to get here, but progress would make it worth it. The second he'd sat down he had started scouring for any information on Stain. He had a private document opened up in which he copied down anything he could find.

All of Stain's confirmed victims were Atlesian hunters. While he had been linked back to at least three deaths in Mistral due to similar injuries sustained by the victims, they were unconfirmed. Of all Stain's victims, the most disturbing was his killing of an Atlesian Specialist ten months ago. While he was among the eldest in the Atlesian Specialists at the time of his death, he was still a specialist, and one who had quite an extensive track record. Plus, Stain had almost killed his… Stain had crippled his brother, one of the best Atlesian Specialists within their army. If he was capable of that then he was powerful indeed.

The Hunter's Guild had been asked multiple times if they were investigating Stain's spree of killing. They stated that as Atlas had not directly asked for help, they felt no need to send in any aid, and that they had more pressing matters to deal with than a serial killer, a statement which Tenya couldn't begin to comprehend.

 _If he managed to beat Tensei then I likely won't be able to beat him in a head to head fight. I need to train more, much more, and I'll have to plan out the encounter meticulously. He's likely only here in Vale due to General Ironwood's presence, along with the fact that he can draw international attention to himself as the Vytal Festival approaches. If him being there cancels the festival he'd become the most infamous man alive. I won't give him that! If no one else is going to do it, then I will stop you!_

* * *

 _Same Time, Beacon Academy Dorms_

Cinder Fall opened the door into her "team's" room. Mercury sat up from his prone position on his bed while Emerald quickly put her Scroll away.

"Based on your smile I'm guessing the meeting went well."

"Oh please, she always has that smirk on her face." Cinder and Emerald both shot Mercury a rough glace, with Emerald's being the rougher of the two, which he simply shrugged off.

"Indeed it was. Roman was able to confirm the rumors that the Grim Legion did meet with Stain. According to him negotiations broke down quite quickly."

"Did heads roll?" Mercury asked.

"No, though he's fairly certain an altercation did take place."

"Should we be worried about him? If he almost killed that one specialist then he could be troublesome." Emerald asked.

"I want you to keep an eye on him, but for now we don't need to act on anything. It's entirely possible he may end up inadvertently helping us in our goals." Cinder said as she sat down in front of her desk.

"That can't be all, right? You were gone for almost two hours, no way you were talking to Torchwick _that_ long." Mercury said.

"I can't imagine talking alone with that guy for more than five minutes," Emerald muttered.

"Oh come now, he's hardly the worst person to hold a conversation with. But you are right, I took another call right after that. One with my 'higher-ups'." If Mercury and Emerald weren't already hanging off Cinder's every word, they sure as hell were now.

"When're you gonna tell us more about them? Every time you bring them up you never even give us a name."

"You'll meet them in due time, Mercury. However, given the nature of our work, they've asked me not to give out any information about them to you until we've completed our work here in Vale. They'd rather avoid any information slipping out."

"That's no fun."

"Just be quiet so she can tell us what they said." Emerald hissed.

"Thank you," Cinder gave a small smile towards Emerald, causing the girl to beam, "I told them about what little we learned about the Grim Legion from our meeting with them, specifically that they had someone who could push All Might to his limits. Needless to say they want to get more information as soon as possible."

"Why don't we ask Torchwick? Based on what that Tomura guy said it seems like Torchwick might know more about them than he's told us." Emerald said.

"A fair suggestion, but no. If they managed to get an All Might-level individual on their side then it's entirely possible they have another, especially seeing as that one apparently wasn't a Maiden. Plus it would appear that Tomura is much smarter than he appears, and that he can indeed, at least sometimes, control his temper. We cannot afford to get into direct conflict with them."

"Just when I thought I could get a half-decent fight out of them. You've taken the wind from my sails." Mercury said, putting as much melodrama into his voice as he could.

"I'll be sure to pick some good opponents for you once the festival rolls around." Cinder said with a chuckle.

"So what's the plan now?" Emerald asked.

"We wait. My higher-ups will send a message with their recommendations on how to deal with the Grim Legion and we'll move from there. For now we stick with the plan we already had."

"So we wait until the dance at the end of the semester?"

"Indeed. That means that for the next few months we lay low and play the role of students. I suggest you get to studying, wouldn't want to get a failing grade now would we?"

"You know we're both just going to cheat, right?" Mercury asked. Cinder chuckled and nodded before waving them off, letting them get back to what they had been doing before she returned. Cinder pulled out one of the drawers in her desk. She reached in and grabbed the drawer's sole contents, a Scroll. It had been sent to her a few days before she arrived at Beacon. It had no contacts, no notes, no applications. All it had was one simple program.

The Black Queen Virus.

She didn't exactly have a soft spot in her heart for the person who made it, but that didn't change anything.

 _I was given this task._ Cinder thought as her grip around the Scroll increased ever so slightly. I _was tasked with infiltration._ I _was tasked with ensuring everything falls into place._ I _was tasked with achieving success._

 _I will not fail. I will not starve. Not ever again._

* * *

 **A/N**

 **Chapter Commentary**

 **I cut the meeting with Stain down for two reasons. One being that I couldn't quite find a way to fit it in properly with the rest of what I had in this chapter, and the other being that I didn't want to spoil his adapted Semblance before the big fight.**

 **Gaius Caligula is an OC I made for the purpose of showing off a bit of Vale's government. I figured having someone like Stain running around in Vale would get the City Council all up in arms. He's named and based after the real-life Gaius Caligula, arguably the worst Emperor of the Roman Empire so yeah, he's not exactly a nice guy.**

 **As you can see throughout the chapter, Tenya is in hot pursuit of Stain. Except, unlike in canon, he has more time to prepare for Stain, as in MHA proper he just went into Hosu guns blazing. How that will change things remains to be seen…**

 **The bit about Agartha is the first hit of changes/additions I plan on making to RWBY's overall lore. Agartha has to do with Salem and Ozpin's overall backstory, along with things that happened to characters in more recent history. I chose the name Asura for the "dragon continents" as RoosterTeeth has yet to name to the continent in canon. If you're curious about where I got the names from, Agartha is the name of a kingdom within the center of the earth in legend while Asuras are a type of demon in Hinduism.**

 **And so Gran Torino makes his debut! Plus we got to see him interact a bit more with All Might all thanks to Ozpin. Now Izuku will finally get a chance to improve his handling of OfA.**

 **I'm keeping Cinder's references to her cohorts intentionally vague as it's another part of changes I'm thinking about making. I might go a ways off from canon or I might stick relatively close. We'll see how things develop.**

 **Reviews:**

 **LegendaryMob (Chapters 4 and 5): Yep, Team MSKI isn't the most stable of teams with Deku and Bakugo's relationship, and their negative did indeed attract Grimm to them during initiation. For you point on Izuku's ability to wield OfA or lack thereof, he's meant to be inexperienced. Him being a Severed means he couldn't train himself up like everyone else. He never would've gotten through without All Might's help, which is kind of the point. He's been given the tools, now he has to learn to use them to succeed.**

 **Triton0501 (Chapter 14): I'm glad you understood why Tensei vs Stain was cut, and I'm even more glad you enjoyed Team PIUS and the fights. Also, thank you for your opinion on my changes to the canon lore. You made some well thought out points and I'll keep them in mind going forward.**

 **1jesus: (Chapter 14): I'll do my best!**

 **Askforlaw: (Chapter 14): I've actually been leaning in a different direction than those shipping choices. That said, regardless of what ships I chose, I'll be sure to have all the main cast interacting with each other so their dynamics can be put on full display.**

 **Chibi Xzibit (Chapter 14): I don't know if my idea of changes to the canon exactly lines up with yours, but I'll do my best to make it interesting.**

 **Guest 1 (Chapter 14): Glad I was able to surprise you in a good way!**

 **Guest 2 (Chapter 14): I mean, I don't think I'll be going with the whole nausea thing. She already has the limit of running out of Aura from overusing it, so I figure it would be kind of redundant.**

 **Guest 3 (Chapter 14): I'm open to the idea of giving Pyrrha a different fate, I would just need to figure out what to do with her. While I did enjoy her presence in Volume 3, I'm unsure of if she exactly has much else going for her if she survives. Of course, I definitely to change that, it's just a matter of if I feel it fits with the direction of the story.**

 **Guest 4 (Chapter 14): You'll have to wait to find out!**

 **Guest 5 (Chapter 14): Yes, but, as you can already tell, it won't be in the exact same way.**

 **Guest 6 (Chapter 14): Hopefully you found it comedic. I'll admit that comedy isn't my strong suit when writing, but I hope to improve on that front.**

 **Guest 7 (Chapter 14): Yeah Oz definitely had a shit-eating grin when All Might read that message (which was, to clarify, from GT)**

 **Darth Stigma (Chapter 14): That is definitely an interesting idea, so I'll keep it in mind.**

 **Earl John Diawatan (Chapter 11): I chose Mina over Tsu because I just find her more enjoyable to write. She's a fun, vibrant character. Not to throw any shade at Tsu though, she's awesome in her won right, and I imagine you'll see her at some point along the line.**

 **Earl John Diawatan (Chapter 14): Nothing escapes the keen senses of a Schnee!**

 **Artem-abramov-2004 (Chapter 11): Cinder and Shigaraki are a whole lot of fun to write, and you'll absolutely see more interactions with them in the future.**

 **Guest 8 (Chapter 14): Shigiraki's relationship in regards to the other villains is something I've had planned out in my head for quite a while. Getting to write it all out is extremely gratifying.**

 **Ravenlakill (Chapter 13): Even if Ruby and Shoto don't get together, they'll still interact a whole lot. And you take care of yourself as well.**

 **Ravenlakill (Chapter 14): Wait no longer!**

 **Now we move into the Dance Arc. Get ready for a mix of fluff and angst everyone! There is going to be a bit of a time skip, as the Investigation Arc begins at the start of the second semester while the Dance and Mountain Glenn Arc are at the end of the semester right before the Vytal Festival. Not too much will have changed within that time, I just felt like it was important to point out.**

 **See you next time and stay safe!**


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